(Update 11:11-a.m.: Launch postponed until Thursday, 11/17)

Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson is in Kazakhstan, awaiting Thursday’s launch of a Russian rocket that’ll take her to the International Space Station for her third mission. Whitson grew up on a farm in southern Iowa’s Ringgold County near Beaconsfield and during one of her previous space missions, nurtured a small crop of soybeans. She’ll be space-farming again during the coming six-months in orbit. (click on the left side of the audio bars to play comments)

The space station has grown since Whitson was last there, with new labs and a better view through the famed cupola. Many of the compartments are school bus-sized and the full station is now about as big as a football field. She’s excited to learn about its new capabilities.

It will be more crowded this time, too. The station had a crew of three during her most recent mission but this time, there will be six people on-board — Whitson and another American, three Russians and a Frenchman. As for the six months ahead, the Beaconsfield native says she has no specific goals.

Whitson has already logged 377 days aboard the orbiting station during missions in 2002 and 2007. In February, she’ll celebrate her 57th birthday there and will be the oldest woman ever in space. Among her many accomplishments, Whitson will be the first woman to command the station twice. Launch aboard the Soyuz MS-2 spacecraft is scheduled for 2:20 PM Central time Thursday.

(Radio Iowa)