Astronaut breaks record for longest time in space
Friday, 18 Apr 2008 11:48
Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson (far right) officially hands over command of the International Space Station to Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov (far left)
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One of the astronauts based at the International Space Station (ISS) has broken the record for the longest time in space.
Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson broke the previous record for the longest cumulative time in space on Wednesday.
She is due to begin her return to Earth on Saturday after accumulating 377 days in space.
Ms Whitson handed over command of the orbiting outpost on Thursday to Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov.
She will join flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko and spaceflight participant So-yeon Yi when the Soyuz TMA-11 undocks from the ISS on Saturday.
Ms Yi has also made headlines during her time in space as she is the first South Korean to enter space.
She has been flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency since lift-off on April 8th.
Expedition 17 astronauts will remain at the ISS for six months and will continue the expansion of the station.
Another record will be set in July when Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenk perform the ISS' 20th Russian spacewalk.