NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and two crewmates made a parachute touchdown in Kazakhstan on Saturday, capping a career-total 665 days in orbit, a U.S. record. Whitson, 57, ended an extended stay of more than nine months aboard the International Space Station, a $100 billion US research laboratory that flies about 400 kilometres above Earth. During her third mission aboard the station, Whitson spent much of her time on experiments, including studies of cancerous lung tissue and bone cells. Commander Peggy Whitson PhD, you rock. Whitson, who became an astronaut in 1996, was the first woman to command the space station and also the first woman and first non-pilot to serve as chief of the NASA Astronaut Corps.

Source: CBC News September 03, 2017 01:52 UTC