NASA astronaut Don Pettit, 70, safely landed back on Earth after a seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Pettit, who has spent over 18 months in orbit throughout his 29-year career, completed his fourth spaceflight with Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.
The Soyuz capsule carrying the three astronauts touched down in Kazakhstan on Sunday, just hours before Pettit’s milestone birthday. The landing marked the end of a 220-day mission that saw the trio orbit Earth 3,520 times and travel over 93 million miles.
Pettit and his crewmates conducted research on water sanitization technology, plant growth, and fire behavior in microgravity during their time on the ISS. Despite looking a bit worse for wear after landing, Pettit was reported to be “doing well” by NASA officials.
The successful return follows Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, which is just short of the nine-month journey of previous astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The mission marked an important milestone in US-Russia cooperation in space exploration, which has been strained due to tensions over the Ukraine conflict.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-04-nasa-oldest-astronaut-earth-70th.html