State Historical Society of Iowa

Iowa Astronaut Peggy Whitson, 2017

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Iowa Astronaut Peggy Whitson, 2017
Courtesy of NASA, Peggy Whitson Official EMU Portrait, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2017

Description

Peggy A. Whitson participated in ten spacewalks. With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson holds the U.S. record, placing eighth on the all-time space endurance list. The Iowa native also completed two six-month tours of duty aboard the space station in 2002, and as the station commander in 2008. She accumulated 377 days in space between the two missions, the most for any U.S. woman at the time of her return to Earth.

Source-Dependent Questions

  • What do astronauts need to be good at their job?
  • How is this job the same as jobs in the 1900 and 1950? How is it different?
  • About 8 percent of U.S. astronauts are women. What might be some reasons for this number?

Citation Information 

Peggy Whitson Official EMU Portrait, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2017. Courtesy of NASA