Whitson during her time on the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

Peggy Whitson’s career as an astronaut has been trailblazing: With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson not only currently holds the space endurance record in the U.S., she is eighth on that list overall. She was the first woman astronaut to hold NASA’s chief astronaut position, has completed a total of 10 spacewalks over the course of her career, and commanded the International Space Station twice.

On May 16, Wh