Peggy Whitson: From 4-H to space

Before Dr. Peggy Whitson became America's most experienced astronaut — accumulating 675 days in space between her three NASA long-duration space flights and the Axiom Mission 2 — she was a farm girl in southwest Iowa and a member of the Beaconsfield Bomberettes 4-H Club. She shared her experience in an exclusive interview with Successful Farming.

During her 4-H days, Whitson was involved in projects including home furnishings, sewing, and baking, and was selected to present two of her speeches at the Iowa State Fair. "One was on how you dry flowers, and the other was on how to make dinner rolls all different kinds of ways," she says. "I remember the title of that one was called, 'Riot of Rolls.'"

Whitson says skills she honed in 4-H like communication and teamwork have been useful in her adult life and career as an astronaut. "The public speaking was really important," she says. "I was a very shy person, and being able to get up and present something and do well enough to actually get the opportunity to go to the state fair was pretty special to me and gave me a lot more confidence."

STEM in 4-H

After graduating from Mt. Ayr High School — where a sign in front of the building proudly names her as one of their own and one of her NASA flight suits is exhibited outside the auditorium — Whitson earned degrees in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan and a doctoral degree in biochemistry from Rice University.

Today, kids in 4-H still learn skills like baking, sewing, and public speaking, but they are also offered opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Local clubs and grant-funded programs focus on computer science, robotics, aerospace, physics, chemistry, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and veterinary science.

Message to kids

Whitson says she wants to encourage today's students to follow their dreams. "I grew up on a farm and I had a dream of doing something that I didn't have any idea how to do, how to go about, how to accomplish," she says. She would need plenty of persistence, determination, and grit.

"I didn't become an astronaut just because I wanted to do it. It took ten years of applying and rejections and hard work, and I learned a lot along the way," she says. "It's really important that you know your path isn't always a straight line to your goal, and that you have to work to achieve that goal. That also means you might have to fail now and then because you'll push your limits. Try and do more than you think you can because you'll surprise yourself with how much you are really capable of if you just push yourself beyond what you know you can do."

Those failures become important lessons, Whitson says, and they make you better. "I truly believe that I achieved many things like becoming the first female commander of the International Space Station or the first female chief of the Astronaut Office because of those ten years of rejection," she says. "They prepared me to be better at those jobs and more qualified to do those jobs. It was really important that I had those experiences and faced those challenges and learned from them."

She also says it's OK if kids don't know exactly what they want to do. "I think it's important to expose yourself to as many different avenues out there as possible, because you might not know what your dream is," she says. "It's important to look out there and see what's going on."

About Peggy Whitson

Not only is Whitson the most experienced American astronaut, she has also logged more days in space than any other woman in the world and conducted 10 space walks totaling more than 60 hours. 

She spent 37 years with NASA in various space and science positions, including chief of the Astronaut office, two-time commander of the International Space Station, share of the Astronaut Selection Board, chief of NASA's Operations Branch, and deputy division chief for NASA's Medical Sciences and Astronaut Offices.

Whitson currently serves as an astronaut and the director of human space flight for Axiom Space, where in May 2023 she became the first female commander of a private space mission.