NASA Astronauts Back From Space, Available To Talk With Media

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Sep 06, 2017, 10:27 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer, who returned to Earth on Sept. 2 after spending months aboard the International Space Station, will take part in a news conference to discuss their mission at 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 11. The hour-long event will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Media may attend the event at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston or participate by phone. To attend the briefing, U.S. media must request credentials from the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7. To participate by phone, media must call the Johnson newsroom no later than 10:40 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 11.

Although Whitson and Fischer returned to Earth together, they arrived at the space station separately. Whitson launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 17 and spent more than nine months in space. She now holds the U.S. record for cumulative time in space, with 665 days in orbit during three long-duration missions. She originally was scheduled to return to Earth in June, but her mission was extended in March, thereby increasing the amount of valuable astronaut time available for hundreds of experiments she and her crewmates participated in. She also has spent the longest time in orbit during a single spaceflight – 288 days on this mission – than any other female astronaut.

In addition, Whitson holds the records for most spacewalks and time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut -- 10 spacewalks totaling 60 hours and 21 minutes. Whitson was the first woman to command the space station and, during this mission, she became the first woman to command the station twice – a position she held from April 9 through June 1.

Fischer launched to the space station on April 20 and spent 136 days in orbit on his first space mission, during which he took part in two spacewalks that total just under seven hours.

While living and working aboard the world's only orbiting laboratory, Whitson and Fischer contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science, welcomed several cargo spacecraft delivering tons of supplies and research experiments, and conducted a combined six spacewalks to perform maintenance and upgrades to the station.

Follow Whitson on social media at:

https://twitter.com/astropeggy

https://www.facebook.com/NASAastronautPeggyWhitson

https://astropeggy.tumblr.com/

Follow Fischer on social media at:

https://twitter.com/Astro2fish

https://www.facebook.com/Astro2fish

https://www.instagram.com/astro2fish/

SOURCE NASA