Peggy A. Whitson

Dr. Peggy Annette Whitson
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Active
Born	(1960-02-09) February 9, 1960 (age 57) Mount Ayr, Iowa, U.S.
Other occupation	Biochemist
Alma mater	Iowa Wesleyan College Rice University
Time in space	Currently in space
Selection	1996 NASA Group
Total EVAs	8
Total EVA time	53 hours, 22 minutes
Missions	STS-111, Expedition 5, STS-113, Soyuz TMA-11 (Expedition 16), Soyuz MS-03/Soyuz MS-04 (Expedition 50/Expedition 51)
Mission insignia

Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. Her second mission launched October 10, 2007, as the first female commander of the ISS with Expedition 16. With her two long-duration stays aboard the ISS, Whitson is NASA's most experienced female astronaut, with just over 376 days in space, as of her second mission. This also places her twenty-ninth among all space flyers. She is currently in space on her third long-duration space flight and is the current commander of the International Space Station.

The flight of Space Shuttle mission STS-120, commanded by astronaut Pam Melroy, was the first time that two female mission commanders have been in orbit at the same time. After completion of her eighth EVA in March 2017, Whitson now holds the records for the oldest female spacewalker, and the record for total spacewalks by a woman (eight), surpassing Sunita Williams, who has completed 7. Whitson's cumulative EVA time is 53 hours, 22 minutes, which placed her in 5th place for total EVA time. In 2017, Whitson became the first female astronaut to command the International Space Station twice.

Whitson was born in Mount Ayr, Iowa, and grew up on a farm outside the nearby town of Beaconsfield, Iowa. Whitson graduated from Mount Ayr Community High School in 1978 and received a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981. She then went on to earn her doctorate degree in biochemistry from Rice University in 1985, and following completion of her graduate work, continued at Rice as a Robert A Welch Post-doctoral Fellow until October 1986. She is married to Clarence F. Sams, Ph.D.