HOUSTON-- NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson of Iowa, who returned to Earth April 19 after approximately six months on the International Space Station, will be available for satellite interviews from 6 to 8 a.m. CDT on Friday, May 2.

Whitson, the first female commander of the space station, has accumulated more time in orbit than any U.S. astronaut in history. She launched to the complex on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Oct. 10, 2007, spending 192 days in space. Whitson previously spent 185 days in space after serving as a flight engineer on Expedition 5, which launched June 5, 2002, and returned to Earth Dec. 7. She conducted five spacewalks on her recent mission and one on her previous flight, totaling 39 hours and 46 minutes of spacewalking time, more than any other female.

During Expedition 16, Whitson oversaw the first expansion of the station's living and working space in more than six years. The shuttle and station crews added the Harmony connecting node, the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo logistics pressurized module.

To participate in the interviews, reporters should contact Stephanie Stoll at 281-483-9071 no later than 3 p.m. Thursday, May 1. B-roll featuring highlights of Whitson's mission will air at 5:30 a.m., before the start of the interviews.

Whitson was born in Mt. Ayr, Iowa, and considers nearby Beaconsfield her hometown. She received a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Iowa Wesleyan College and a doctorate in chemistry from Rice University. She was selected as an astronaut in 1996. Whitson's biography is available at:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.html

NASA's live interview media channel will be used to conduct the interviews. The channel is located on satellite AMC 6, transponder 5C, which is located at 72 degrees west, downlink frequency 3785.5 Mhz, vertical polarity, FEC of 3/4th, symbol rate 4.3404 Mbaud.

For information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station