Record-breaking astronaut returns to Earth

A record-shattering NASA astronaut touched down on Earth to day, finishing a 288-day mission that put her over the top as the American who spent the most cumulative amount of time in space.

Peggy Whitson, 57 ,is also the oldest female astronaut in the history of space exploration, was the first female International Space Station commander, and holds the record for number of spacewalks (10) by a woman.

The biochemist completed a mission at the International Space Station that began in November 2016, covering 196.7 million kilometres and 4,623 orbits of Earth.

"As a result of impacts of Hurricane Harvey, NASA is reviewing return plans to Houston of Whitson, Fischer and the science samples landing in the Soyuz spacecraft," the space agency said.