Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson says her two main goals were met during the recent Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station. Whitson says she wanted to create not only a high-performing crew, but also one with bonds that would last a lifetime.
During today’s Axiom Space news conference to “debrief” the mission, she touted how the four-member crew performed more than 60 experiments while aboard the orbiting research lab that represented the scientific interests of more than 30 nations.
“We studied how cells repair themselves, how crops might thrive in places where nothing should grow, how the human brain adapts when gravity is no longer a constant. We explored how to manage insulin-dependent diabetes in space, a step toward making space flight accessible for those with historically disqualifying conditions,” Whitson says. “I’d say that’s not too bad for an international team who only started working together a year ago.”
Whitson commanded the mission that included first-time astronauts from India, Hungary and Poland, three nations that haven’t sent a person into low-Earth orbit in four decades. In addition, it marked the first time astronauts from those nations conducted a mission together on the ISS.
“This mission was also about more than science,” Whitson says. “It was about national pride, about reigniting the dreams of generations who once looked at the stars and wondered when will we return? Well, these guys did, and they did it with grace, with professionalism, a whole lot of laughter, and maybe not-so-quiet strength that reminded me every day why I love this work.”
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Whitson and crew lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 25th, and after 18 days docked at the space station, splashed down off the coast of southern California on July 15th.
Whitson, who grew up on a farm in southern Iowa near Beaconsfield, says even though they all came from much different places and followed varied paths, “we go farther when we go together.”
“This mission proved what’s possible when we work together between nations, between public and private sectors, between seasoned astronauts and first-time flyers,” Whitson says. “We trained across continents, across cultures and across time zones, but when it mattered most, when the stakes were high and the world was watching, we moved as one.”
This is Whitson’s second mission for Axiom Space, a private Houston-based firm which aims to assemble its own space station in the next few years. She flew three previous missions for NASA before retiring from the agency in 2018.
It was Whitson’s fifth mission to the ISS and she’s now amassed 695 days in space, the most of any American. At 65, she’s considered the United States’ most experienced astronaut.
