56-Year-Old NASA Astronaut to Become Oldest Woman in Space

The team includes French space rookie Thomas Pesquet, 38, NASA’s former chief astronaut Peggy Whitson, and Russia’s Oleg Novitsky.

During their time aboard, the new crew members will help execute a variety of science experiments in the fields of planetary science, biology, genetics and more. She will assume command of the ISS after March 2017. The best part is when she talks about selling chickens to pay for her first pilot’s license. In fact, Whitson will be celebrating her 57th birthday aboard the ISS. During the latter mission, a Soyuz malfunction sent her spacecraft back tumbling into the atmosphere with the propulsion module still attached, subjecting the crew to a force eight times that of gravity. They are scheduled to stay on board of the space station for 180 days. Her upcoming six-month mission should push her beyond 534 days in space, the US record set in September by 58-year-old astronaut Jeffrey Williams.

The Soyuz MS-03 crew is seen in quarantine behind glass during a crew press conference, November 16.

“The most important thing about the station is the friendships and the work we accomplish there”, Whitson said during a prelaunch news conference on Wednesday in Kazakhstan. Once their capsule reaches low Earth orbit, the trio will spend two days catching up to the ISS before docking.

This mission marks the first time that a woman- Peggy Whitson- will become commander of the space station twice.

Novitsky, a 45-year-old making his second ISS trip, was born in Belarus and will carry a Belarus flag with him on his second ISS trip, official media there said.

This is the third flight of an upgraded MS-series Soyuz, featuring improved communications, navigation and propulsion systems. “I think it gets easier as you get older”, Whitson told the Des Moines Register. His mission is being called Proxima, an allusion to the closest star to the Sun.

The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed the completion of the rollout and terrestrial voyage of the Soyuz rocket.

“There will be French food this time”, Pesquet assured her.