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Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson has made history as the oldest woman to launch into space.

The 56-year-old blasted off Thursday on a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

She had already spent 377 days in space in the past and this latest star trek, called Expedition 50, sees her break the oldest woman in space record set by fellow American Barbara Morgan in 2007 at age 55.

READ MORE: How Close Are We to Colonizing Mars? Not So out of This World

Whitson’s first space mission was in 2002 as a member of Expedition 5. During this time, she was named the first NASA Science Officer and conducted 27 investigations of human life and microgravity sciences. Then in 2007, she became the first female commander of the ISS.

Additionally, with her two long-duration stays on the ISS, Whitson is NASA’s most experienced female astronaut. Expedition 50 marks her third space mission, and by the time the trip is over, it will push her beyond 534 days in space, a record previously set by astronaut Jeffrey Williams.

Peggy Whitson’s triumphs, however, are by no means the only noteworthy accomplishments by NASA women.

Hidden Figures,” an upcoming biographical drama starring Taraji P. Henson, shares the story of three brilliant women who played a pivotal role in helping launch the program’s first successful space missions.

In the movie set to release on Dec. 25th, Katharine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) serve as the brains of the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. 

@NASA’s first black female engineer. @JanelleMonae stars as Mary Jackson in #HiddenFigures?.

A photo posted by Hidden Figures (@hiddenfiguresmovie) on

“It was ‘women’s work,’” says Margot Lee Shetterly, author of “Hidden Figures,” the book that inspired the movie. “The men designed the research and did the manly stuff and the women did the calculations, you know, at the behest of the engineers.”

READ MORE: ‘Hidden Figures’ Recognizes Black Women’s Contributions to NASA’s Space Race

During a time when gender and racial segregation was very prominent, this revolutionary team of African American women helped win the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

And today, women across the nation continue to break boundaries and inspire others to do the same.

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