Peggy Whitson to return from orbit after clocking 665 days in space

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Astronaut Peggy Whitson is approaching an astronomical landmark: 665 days in orbit over three missions, giving her the record for the most time in space of any American.

Whitson will complete her current mission -- having spent a year in space -- when she lands Saturday in Kazakhstan, at 9:22 p.m. ET. She has circumnavigated 122 million miles of the globe -- the equivalent of traveling to Mars and back nearly twice.

Over her career, she has made 10 spacewalks totaling 60 hours and 21 minutes -- ranking third on the all-time list for spacewalks.

Read: Space superwoman returning to Earth with records galore

First stop Saturday night is Kazakhstan as usual for a Russian Soyuz capsule touchdown, then a brief detour to Germany before heading home to storm-crippled Houston.

During her third and latest mission, which began last November, the 57-year-old biochemist became the oldest woman in space. She performed her 10th spacewalk, more than any other woman. And she became the first woman to command the space station twice.

On the eve of her landing, Whitson said she's craving pizza - and flush toilets. "Trust me, you don't want to know the details," she said via email in response to questions from The Associated Press. A formal news conference was canceled earlier in the week because of the storm, so email responses were the next-best thing.

She said her home in Houston is fine, but so many friends and co-workers were not as fortunate. Johnson Space Center in Houston remains closed until Tuesday except for essential personnel, such as those staffing Mission Control for the space station. She said the team was sleeping on cots at the space center at one point.

Read: Astronaut Peggy Whitson breaks record for most time in space by American

"Any trepidations I might have about returning in the aftermath of a hurricane are entirely eclipsed by the all those folks keeping our mission going," she said.

In April, the International Space Station commander surpassed the record of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes for most accumulated time in orbit by an American. That record was set last year by Jeffrey Williams.

Whitson already was the world's most experienced spacewoman and female spacewalker and, at 57, the oldest woman in space.

On average, an astronaut’s tour includes 6 months spent on the International Space Station. The second longest flight -- by American astronaut Mike Lopez-Algeria -- took 215 days. Whitson bested that record by over a 100 days.

Being up in space for so long, Whitson has witnessed numerous cosmic events -- including this summer’s solar eclipse.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Touchdown! @AstroPeggy, @Astro2Fish & Russian crewmate land on Earth after 136 days in space; 288 days for Peggy: https://t.co/mzKW5uDsTi pic.twitter.com/SiylBnuJLG
— NASA (@NASA) September 3, 2017