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NASA's Most Experienced Astronaut Retires, Spent 665 Days In Space (upi.com)
An anonymous reader quotes UPI:
After nearly four decades with NASA, including 22 years as an astronaut, Peggy Whitson is leaving the space agency. Her retirement is effective Friday, NASA announced... Whitson ends her career with multiple records to her name, including most time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut -- 665 days...
The 57-year-old Whitson was a scientist before she was an astronaut, earning graduate degrees in biochemistry from Rice University in Houston before coming to conduct research at NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1989. The NASA scientist began training as an astronaut in 1996. She made her first trip to the International Space Station in 2008. During her time in space, including three long-duration stints aboard International Space Station, she helped carry out 21 science investigation and became the agency's first space station science officer... Whitson took a second turn as commander during Expedition 51, part of her most recent -- and last -- stay on the space station, which spanned from November 2016 to September 2017.
The 57-year-old Whitson was a scientist before she was an astronaut, earning graduate degrees in biochemistry from Rice University in Houston before coming to conduct research at NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1989. The NASA scientist began training as an astronaut in 1996. She made her first trip to the International Space Station in 2008. During her time in space, including three long-duration stints aboard International Space Station, she helped carry out 21 science investigation and became the agency's first space station science officer... Whitson took a second turn as commander during Expedition 51, part of her most recent -- and last -- stay on the space station, which spanned from November 2016 to September 2017.
Almost the most METAL astronaut ever. Just one day off...
He is probably kicking himself that he never reached 666 like all good astronauts are taught.
Reading comprehension is a wonderful thing. Get some today!
It's sort of surprising when things like "women in space" stuff makes one think of persons like the teacher sent up with Challenger(?) to be the first alibi female of some kind. So you get that "man in space with some occasional alibi woman" vibe that continues when space has become routine enough not to be reported about a lot more.
And then some astronaut with a long career and record durations in space retires and is a woman. And it feels like some revisionist history at play here because wtf, that's the first you hear of her. And it doesn't fit the predominant space vibe you thought you were in touch with.
So how do those loose ends tie up and why are they there in the first place?
Well, I for one welcome our female overladies.
The summary makes it sound as if she joined NASA in 1989, and seeing that it's now 2018, I'm not sure where the "nearly 4 decades" comes from, as that's nearly 3 decades...
I especially like it when nobody bats an eye. That's both as it should be and an implied "up yours" to the "oh noes wimmynz are still so behind glass ceilings" and whatnot else shouty bunches.
I don't like it so much that while the most experienced people retire, there are only so few astronauts, they're mostly from just a small handful of countries, getting there is still stupidly expensive, and that's still only about four hundred or so kilometer up, not really space space. And that's the rub: They're doing good work individually, but it's still very much a playground for a happy few and not really relevant to anybody else. Which in turn is why you've heard so little about them.
That must mean a lot of science and spinoffs, right? And seven dollars back for every dollar spent?
It's kind of unfair that I can't invest a few thousand in every launch to explore the upper atmosphere, I'd be rich!
And the OP thought he was confused, then along comes you, hold my beer, im much nuttier than you.
Which is why the US has no manned space flight program any more. It was a waste of money compared to the little that was gained. Frankly I am glad it is over. Perhaps one day human beings will travel in real space, not near earth orbit. But there are real problems here that will not be solved out there. There are no worlds to live on and no technology that will allow us to live long lives in space or on hostile planets or moons.
We will not see a living human being walking or flying over a planet or moon ever again. Has not happened in nearly 50 years. It will not happen again for centuries at best. It is better to leave it in the past and focus on real issues. The future of space exploration is robotics.
NASA's Most Experienced Astronaut Retires, Spent 665 Days In Spaaaaaaace!
FTFY
So close!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Born in literally nowhere Iowa, and became one of the greatest astronauts of all time.
... and not one fucking comment would make a good wart on a slasdotter's ass.
Disappointing.
--
Telling, to me, is that I have never heard of her. When someone of her caliber steps out of the dimness into the limelight at the end of her long career, I wonder where she was on the stage.
Hell, I wonder where I was in the audience.
Congratulations to her on a job -- not well done -- but very well done
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
She had to train for 12 years before her first trip, and then wait about 6 years for her second trip... She is very patient. Lots more than Kirk.
I'm happy for her. She's on easy street now, but I doubt she'll take it easy.
This is it.
This is where she will make some big bucks now.
Having such a long established career can only lead to giving talks and making even more money.
Whether it is just talking about day-to-day routines or the expertise she commanded, experiments and any problems. She could even bullshit and talk about how sometimes she felt she could die at any moment just to add a bit of danger and excitement in to the mix.
Book deals certain. Maybe some TV special on Discovery or something, or a short in something related to NASA at the least.
Partial retirement is the best. That space where you can be relaxed and let one-off jobs come to you, usually always high-paying on top.
Look at that prick George Osbourne that destroyed the UK economy, even he's now making silly amounts of money because big business are happy he shit on the economy, with more and more smaller businesses sinking and either dying or being bought up. Brexit just accelerated it even faster in the past year and a half.
Even when you are "hilariously bad at your job", he still used techniques to blatantly lie to the British public while not technically lying, just lying to the pleb-voters that don't understand the very significant differences between financial terms those idiots regularly use interchangeably. That requires dedication and skill to pull off, which big business love.
Average people were clueless as to why he was getting so much work with them, that's why. Scum attracts scum.
He'll never need to lift his finger ever again.
Sadly there are always 2 sides to a coin.
Well, since the original number in the Bible is 616 and was badly translated as 666 in the English version (among e.g "live in celibate/celibrate") she already passed the mark :)
We want to see some real astronauts who walk on the Mars or at least Moon. Since it is not possible to fake Moon landings anymore, all these space programs are not worth single penny.
So, 665 days in space - I did some googling, and some calculating - any of which may be wrong or wildly off base. But consider this:
The International Space Station orbits the earth at a speed of ~4.76 miles per second.
Multiplying this out, here are the miles traveled by Peggy Whitson:
60*60*24*665*4.76 = 273,490,560
Almost 275 million miles.
186282 = miles traveled by light in one second
273490560/186282 = 1468 // number of light seconds Whitson's travel represents
Whitson has traveled a distance equivalent to traveling at the speed of light for 24 minutes
That's pretty darned impressive, if you ask me.
You think she would have earned a free flight, or at least a first class upgrade.
"Perhaps one day." Yeah, that will get 'er done vs doing spacewalks and manned flight and having the resources ready year in and out and training know how to do all of this safely. Perhaps one day we'll have automobiles. Perhaps one day we'll have blinking lights on a case people use to compute hard maths. Perhaps one day negative assholes will shove their heads so far up their ass they won't be able to post anymore.
... did we mention that she's a woman?
The glass ceiling is real -- the firmament.
The speed the Earth is said to be traveling around the sun is 66,600 mph.
Those numerologists, they love to hide their numbers! Imagine if the USA had agreed to convert to the metric system? We would lose the above reference to the numerological satanic origins.
Another error due to the adoption of the international date line. The girl in moonraker had braces. I know cuz she was my first crush.