NASA's Peggy Whitson: 3 Quotes Will Send You To the Moon And Back

MOUNT AYR, IA — A farm near Iowa’s southwest border with Missouri may seem an unlikely place for a little girl to dream of flying through space, but Peggy Whitson did. The story of how she got there — and sealed the record for more time in space than any other American astronaut at 665 days over multiple missions — is nothing short of inspiring, offering hope for girls everywhere (and boys, too). Tender and prodding at the same time, Whitson will send you to the moon and back with what she has to say in a letter to her 9-year-old self.

Whitson began her letter while in space, then finished it back on Earth in collaboration with CBS News for its “Note to Self” series. She returned from the International Space Station in September after 288 consecutive days in space.

What’s so great about the letter, especially for Iowans, is that the now 57-year-old astrophysicist doesn’t hide, but celebrates that she grew up in a place that many people regard as the middle of nowhere. Fair enough. Whitson grew up in the tiny town of Beaconsfield, which now has about 15 people, but she graduated from high school in nearby Mount Ayr, which had about 1,750 residents at the time. Mount Ayr claims Whitson as its most famous resident, and Whitson claims Mount Ayr as her hometown.

That area of southwest Iowa was prosperous enough in the 1960s and 1970s, when Whitson was growing up, that kids who worked hard could to college, but for a Ringgold County farm kid to grow up and go to astronaut school, are you kidding?

Not kidding, Whitson assures her younger self in the opening paragraphs of “Dear Younger Me,” in which she recalls seeing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969, and knowing then that she wanted to walk in their lunar boots.

Here are three passages from the letter will make your heart soar:

Who said you can’t? “The year you graduate high school, NASA will select the first female astronauts. You will dream of exploration. Know that what you dream for might seem impossible, but you will be successful as long as you make your life decisions based on your own value system and not others. So ignore the naysayers, ignore the people who say you can't become an astronaut. Instead use it as motivation. It will be 10 years of applying before ever becoming an astronaut. The rejections will be discouraging, but in your typical style you will just keep trying. All those years of anticipation will be surpassed when the solid rocket boosters ignite and you will literally roar into space.”

Farm kids can fix anything with the right tools and attitude. “Seeing the Earth for the first time in orbit, you will be surprised that you never noticed the quality and texture of colors. High above Earth, you will remember what your parents taught you growing up on the farm: problems don't always have elegant or expensive solutions. Dad will teach you that Number 2 wire and pliers plus a healthy attitude can fix almost anything.”

You’ll farm in space, too. “Believe it or not, you will spend more time in space than any other American astronaut and earn the nickname Space Ninja. You will grow soybeans on orbit while your father will grow soybeans on Earth. You will have the opportunity to help build the engineering marvel that is the International Space Station. You will walk, in space 10 times! You will find that living in space can actually become a home, in spite of tools floating away. Alien to all you know, you will adapt and you will love it.”

Glamour Women of the Year Honoree

The first female chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office, Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station, which she’s done twice, and has walked in space 10 times and holds the record among female astronauts. She was honored Monday as one of Glamour’s Women of the Year, and directed her acceptance remarks at the ceremony in New York City to members of the Lower East Side Girls Club, She’s The First and other nonprofit groups that aim inspiring girls and young women to achieve their dreams.

No matter where you're at, she said in so many words, dream big.

“I grew up a farm girl and being an astronaut … and I made it,” she said.

Check out this video of Peggy Whitson making repairs to the International Space Station this year:

Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images/Getty Images News