‘Better you than me,’ Trump tells record-breaking astronaut

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump congratulated Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson for setting a new space record on Monday, but expressed disdain for a particular rigor of space life — drinking recycled urine.

Whitson, 57, marked 534 days in orbit and counting on Monday, beating Nasa’s previous record-holder Jeff Williams, but remains still far short of the world title, which belongs to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka with his 879 days.

“This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight,” Trump said in a phone call to space, broadcast live on Nasa television.

“That’s an incredible record to break,” he added from the Oval Office, flanked by daughter Ivanka and Nasa astronaut Kate Rubins.

After Whitson described technology to support longduration manned trips to space — including a system that converts urine to drinking water for astronauts — Trump went off script. “Better you than me,” he said.

After earning a doctorate in biochemistry in 1985, Whitson worked as a Nasa scientist for seven years before starting as an astronaut in 1997.

She flew to space for the first time in 2002 aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, staying for a six-month stint at the International Space Station. She became the first female commander of the research outpost in April 2008, during her second, six-month tour of duty. Her latest, third, trip to space began in November.

The oldest woman ever in space, Whitson also set a new record for most spacewalks by a female astronaut earlier last month when she floated outside the space station for the eighth time in her career. – AFP