Don Pettit, the oldest active U.S. astronaut, successfully returned to Earth via Soyuz MS-26 just in time for his 70th birthday after an extensive mission aboard the International Space Station.
Oldest Serving U.S. Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Earth Return
Oldest Serving U.S. Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Earth Return
On his milestone birthday, veteran astronaut Don Pettit returns from a lengthy mission in space.
America's oldest active astronaut, Don Pettit, touched down on Earth in celebration of his 70th birthday. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, carrying Pettit alongside Russian colleagues Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, executed a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan’s vast steppe at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT) on Sunday.
During their extraordinary mission, which lasted 220 days, the trio orbited the planet a staggering 3,520 times, accumulating Pettit’s total space travel time to 590 days across four missions. Although Pettit's achievements are remarkable, he is still not the oldest to fly in orbit— a title held by the late John Glenn, who ventured out at the age of 77 during a NASA mission in 1998.
Post-landing, Pettit and his companions are set to spend time acclimatizing to Earth's gravity. Following this, Pettit plans to return to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will head back to Russia’s primary space training center in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow. In a ceremonial handover prior to their departure, the crew entrusted command of the ISS to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
In a related note, it was reported last month that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally concluded their lengthy stay on the ISS. Originally slated for an eight-day visit, they unexpectedly extended their mission for over nine months before returning to Earth on March 18, due to technical difficulties with their spacecraft.
NASA Kazakhstan Space Exploration
