Record-breaking Peggy Whitson lands back on Earth

US astronaut Peggy Whitson has safely returned to Earth
after a spending a record-breaking amount of time in
space.

Whitson landed in Kazakhstan on Sunday following a 288-day
mission on the International Space Station (ISS), which Nasa says brings her total time in orbit to 665
days – a new record for a US astronaut. 

638 days in space and the view is still
amazing! Soaking up some sunset time in the cupola%u2026 pic.twitter.com/AiReQzkjJZ

— Peggy Whitson (@AstroPeggy) 6 August 2017

At 57 years old, The Guardian says Whitson also takes the record
as the “world’s oldest spacewoman” and “the first woman to command
the space station twice following her launch last
November.” 

During her most recent visit to Space, Nasa says Whitson was
tasked with researching “the physical changes to astronaut’s eyes
caused by prolonged exposure to a microgravity environment.”

Other studies included the effects that a low gravity
environment has on stem cells and an investigation “that could
increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs for cancer
treatment”.

Whitson told Nasa that she is “not overly comfortable with
the praise about the records”, but says that “it is critical that
we are continuously breaking records, because that represents us
moving forward in exploration.”

She adds: “I am working on paying forward some of the
advice and mentoring that I received on my journey, in hopes that
one day those young people will do the same and look back on a life
in which they leapt at the opportunities and broke their own
records.”

Russia’s Gennady Padalka is the world-record holder for days
spent in space, says The Independent, as the cosmonaut has clocked
879 days in orbit over the course of five missions.  

Valeri Polyakov, another Russian cosmonaut, has the record
for “the longest single stay in space” at a few hours over 437
days.