emirates7 - For many seniors, a 70th birthday typically involves cake, gifts, and a quiet gathering with family. But for NASA’s oldest active astronaut, Don Pettit, turning 70 meant re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after a seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Pettit marked his milestone birthday on Sunday as he, along with Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, returned to Earth in a Soyuz MS-26 capsule that landed near the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos.
Over the course of 220 days in space, the trio orbited the planet 3,520 times and traveled approximately 93.3 million miles. This mission marked Pettit’s fourth journey into space, bringing his total time spent in orbit to more than 18 months during his 29-year career.
The crew undocked from the ISS a little over three hours before landing in a remote area southeast of Kazakhstan. Photos released by NASA showed their capsule descending with a parachute against the backof a sunrise. After landing, rescue teams helped the astronauts from the craft and into a medical tent, where they were seen giving thumbs-up signs.
Although Pettit appeared somewhat fatigued upon exiting the capsule, NASA confirmed he was in good condition and within the expected range of post-landing health outcomes. From Kazakhstan, Pettit was scheduled to travel to the city of Karaganda, then onward to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas.
During their time aboard the ISS, the crew conducted research on topics such as water purification technologies, plant cultivation in various environments, and how fire behaves in microgravity.
Their seven-month stay came close to the record set by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who ended up spending nine months on the space station after technical problems delayed the return of the experimental spacecraft they were testing.
Despite broader geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine, space exploration remains one of the few active areas of collaboration between the United States and Russia.
Pettit marked his milestone birthday on Sunday as he, along with Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, returned to Earth in a Soyuz MS-26 capsule that landed near the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos.
Over the course of 220 days in space, the trio orbited the planet 3,520 times and traveled approximately 93.3 million miles. This mission marked Pettit’s fourth journey into space, bringing his total time spent in orbit to more than 18 months during his 29-year career.
The crew undocked from the ISS a little over three hours before landing in a remote area southeast of Kazakhstan. Photos released by NASA showed their capsule descending with a parachute against the backof a sunrise. After landing, rescue teams helped the astronauts from the craft and into a medical tent, where they were seen giving thumbs-up signs.
Although Pettit appeared somewhat fatigued upon exiting the capsule, NASA confirmed he was in good condition and within the expected range of post-landing health outcomes. From Kazakhstan, Pettit was scheduled to travel to the city of Karaganda, then onward to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas.
During their time aboard the ISS, the crew conducted research on topics such as water purification technologies, plant cultivation in various environments, and how fire behaves in microgravity.
Their seven-month stay came close to the record set by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who ended up spending nine months on the space station after technical problems delayed the return of the experimental spacecraft they were testing.
Despite broader geopolitical tensions over the war in Ukraine, space exploration remains one of the few active areas of collaboration between the United States and Russia.