Oldest Serving US Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Return to Earth

Celebrating a milestone in both age and achievement, NASA's oldest astronaut Dan Pettit has returned to Earth, marking his 70th birthday with a safe landing after a 220-day mission aboard the International Space Station.

In a momentous occasion for space exploration, Dan Pettit, the United States' oldest serving astronaut, returned to Earth in the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft this Sunday, coinciding with his 70th birthday. The spacecraft, which carried Pettit along with Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, executed a controlled parachute-assisted landing in the vast Kazakh steppe at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT).

During their impressive 220-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the crew orbited the Earth a staggering 3,520 times, which has contributed to Pettit's overall space journey totaling 590 days across four missions. Despite this extraordinary achievement, Pettit is not the oldest person to have flown in orbit, a title held by John Glenn, who spaceflown at the age of 77 in 1998.

After completing their mission, the returning astronauts will spend time readjusting to Earth's gravity. Pettit, whose journey began in Oregon on April 20, 1955, will head to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will travel to Russia's Star City space training base near Moscow.

Prior to their departure from the ISS, command of the spaceship was transferred to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. This mission follows the recent return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who spent over nine months aboard the ISS, significantly longer than their initial eight-day plan due to technical difficulties with their spacecraft. This series of successful missions highlights advancements in space exploration and the resilience of astronauts as they contribute to our understanding of life beyond Earth.