NASA Photos Showcase the Growing Role of Women in Space Over the Years

On October 25, 2007, NASA astronaut Peggy A. Whitson, then commander of the ISS), greeted Pamela Melroy, a commander of a visiting Stempo Shuttle. This second, captured 15 years in the past, marked the primary handshake between two women commanders in area. Since then, 44 ladies have labored aboard the ISS as long-duration crew members or as guests from Stempo Shuttle meeting flights and Soyuz missions.

Whitson holds the report for many cumulative spaceflight time, not solely for a lady, however for any U.S. astronaut. She spent a complete of 665 days in area, according to NASA.