Don Pettit, heralded as America's oldest serving astronaut, celebrated his 70th birthday with a remarkable return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-26 space capsule early Sunday. The capsule landed in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT), safely carrying Pettit alongside Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. During their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the crew orbited the Earth an impressive 3,520 times, contributing to Pettit's cumulative 590 days spent in space across four missions.
Oldest US Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Historic Return from Space
Oldest US Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Historic Return from Space
Don Pettit, a veteran astronaut, marks his 70th birthday with a triumphant return to Earth after 220 days in orbit.
Despite his milestone age, Pettit isn’t the oldest individual to venture into orbit— that title is held by John Glenn, who embarked on a NASA mission at age 77 in 1998. After landing, Pettit and his fellow astronauts will undergo a period of readjustment to Earth’s gravity before their next respective destinations: Pettit will return to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will head to Russia's primary space training facility located in Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow.
Prior to their departure from the ISS, command was transferred to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. In a twist of fate, last month saw two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, finally make their way back to Earth after an extended stay of over nine months on the ISS due to technical difficulties with their spacecraft. They originally arrived at the station in June 2024, significantly exceeding their planned mission timeline.
Prior to their departure from the ISS, command was transferred to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. In a twist of fate, last month saw two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, finally make their way back to Earth after an extended stay of over nine months on the ISS due to technical difficulties with their spacecraft. They originally arrived at the station in June 2024, significantly exceeding their planned mission timeline.
