Iowa-born astronaut Peggy Whitson is scheduled to command another two-week mission to the International Space Station in the new year ahead, though the launch date hasn't yet been released.
Whitson will turn 65 in February, but America's most experienced astronaut is still light years from retiring. The Beaconsfield native flew on three NASA long-duration space flights and the Axiom 2 Mission in 2023. She's spent a total of 675 days in space, more than any other U-S astronaut or woman astronaut in the world.
During a question-and-answer session from aboard the International Space Station in 2023, an elementary schooler asked Whitson how hard it was to become an astronaut. She said it took more than ten years of applying to the NASA program, challenging herself to do all sorts of activities she wasn't sure she could do.
"Those activities, in the end, were what made me a better astronaut and I think it's really important that everyone tries to live a little bit outside what they're comfortable with," Whitson says. "Challenge yourself to do something you don't know how to do or you're not sure about because if you fail at something, you learn something from it and you'll be better the next time."
Whitson retired from NASA in 2018 and joined Axiom Space, which plans to build a commercial space station. In a CBS interview from 2023, Whitson said Axiom's missions mark a change, as private, commercial entities are taking the lead from governments in getting satellites -- and people -- into orbit.
"Axiom Space's vision is to enable the replacement for the International Space Station," she says. "As you know, it's been up there over 20 years now, and they're planning to retire it. We plan to step in and hopefully, seamlessly, continue a space station program."
One of Axiom's goals is to increase access to space for all countries, scientists and universities. Whitson hopes the company will also expand on some of the medical experiments that were conducted during her latest mission, including cancer research.
"We were looking at potential ways to treat different types of cancer," Whitson says. "We had colorectal cancer and breast cancers. We really feel like those research objectives are going to help develop medical therapies here on the ground. We're very excited to hear about the details of the research."
The next Axiom mission, AX-4, will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon spacecraft, launching from Florida. Whitson's commanding an international crew of four, with the other three astronauts hailing from India, Poland and Hungary. Axiom says the mission will emphasize scientific research, technology demonstrations, and the commercialization of space.