Ex-NASA Astronaut & Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson | International Space Station

Ex-NASA Astronaut & Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson | International Space Station

"Every moment in the cupola feels like a gift. It's hands down the most stunning view in the universe!"

Peggy Whitson is the commander of the the fourth private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 4. She is also a scientist, specializing in biochemistry. Whitson has performed a total of ten career spacewalks, adding up to 60 hours and 21 minutes. 

Astronauts use the International Space Station's seven-windowed cupola to monitor the arrival of spacecraft and to view the Earth below. The European-built cupola is a 1.6-tonne aluminium structure about 2 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters high. Its dome is a single forged unit with no welding. 

Learn more about the cupola:

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Node-3_Cupola/Cupola

Peggy Whitson (United States) Biography
https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/peggy-whitson

https://www.nasa.gov/people/peggy-a-whitson/

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary have been aboard the International Space Station after launching June 25, 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Axiom Mission 4.

The private astronauts are spending about two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission of science, outreach, and commercial activities.

The Ax-4 Mission “realizes the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary, with each nation’s first government-sponsored flight in more than 40 years. While Ax-4 marks these countries' second human spaceflight mission in history, it is the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station.

The Ax-4 research complement includes around 60 scientific studies and activities representing 31 countries.

Learn more about Ax-4: 
https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax4

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Image Credit: Axiom Space/Peggy Whitson

Release Date: July 7, 2025

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