An Iowa-born astronaut is back in her hometown for Christmas with her family today. She’s literally traveled millions of miles since she was last here, Mount Ayr native Peggy Whitson recently returned to Earth aboard the shuttle Endeavour after a six-month science mission aboard the International Space Station. The 42-year-old says she’ll make several trips to Iowa during January to visit schools and talk about her experiences. Whitson says one of her best memories was the spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Whitson says being out in space, alone, in a capsule was an amazing experience. Whitson grew up on a hog and cattle farm in Ringgold County which the family still works. She’s the first Iowa woman to go into space and she hopes to someday return. Whitson says the spacewalk enabled her to use some of her “farm hand” skills. She and a crewmate were setting up metal shields outside the I-S-S to protect the station from space debris. Whitson says “I hope I’ll be able to inspire young people to reach for their goals, even if they seem impossible. Any Iowa farmer’s daughter who can become an astronaut proves you can become anything you want to if you put your mind to it.”