Axiom Space’s record-setter to lead astronauts from 3 nations on private mission – Orlando Sentinel

Peggy Whitson has spent nearly two years of her life in space as an Axiom Space employee and former NASA astronaut.

Next week she’ll lead a mission with three men representing countries that haven’t sent anyone to space in more than four decades.

Whitson, 65, will command the Ax-4 mission targeting liftoff as early as 8:22 a.m. Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A. It will transport three Axiom customers: one each from India and Hungary, whose seats were paid for by their governments, and one from Poland through the European Space Agency.

Whitson flew three times for NASA before joining Axiom , for which she commanded the Ax-2 mission in 2023 and tallied more than 675 days in space. She holds the record for most time in space by a woman and most for any American. All fo