NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson gets her hair cut, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan just four days before launch to ISS. Whiston is an American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Her first space mission was in 2002, with an extended stay aboard the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 5. Her second mission launched October 10, 2007, as the first female commander of the ISS with Expedition 16. With her two long-duration stays aboard the ISS, Whitson is NASA's most experienced female astronaut, with just over 376 days in space. At age 55, she is the oldest female astronaut in the world to fly into space. Her experience also places her twenty-ninth among all space flyers. She is now in space as part of the crew of Expedition 50. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan the morning ...