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NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson Set 2 New Records In A Day

Whitson now holds the women's records for the most accumulated time spacewalking and most spacewalks.
Posted at 11:40 AM, Mar 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-31 11:40:40-04

While wrapping up work on a docking port on the International Space Station on Thursday, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson set two new spacewalk records.

It was her eighth spacewalk — the most of any female astronaut.

Thursday's spacewalk was also seven hours and four minutes long, allowing Whitson to set a new record for the most accumulated time spacewalking by a woman — 53 hours and 22 minutes to be exact.

The previous record-holder was Sunita Williams, who's spent 50 hours and 40 minutes spacewalking.

Whitson was already really impressive before Thursday.

She's been on board the ISS since November.

It's 57-year-old Whitson's third mission to the space station. Not only is she the oldest woman ever to fly in space, but she'll also have logged the most days in space of any U.S. astronaut by the time she returns to Earth in April.

Jeff Williams currently holds the record with 534 days.

Whitson also served as the ISS' first female commander from October 2007 to April 2008.

Whitson was scheduled to take part in her ninth spacewalk in early April, but it's been delayed until a cargo ship carrying necessary equipment can arrive at the ISS. It's currently grounded because of mechanical problems.