America’s oldest active astronaut, Don Pettit, made a remarkable return to Earth on his 70th birthday. The Soyuz MS-26 capsule, which carried Pettit along with Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, landed safely in the vast steppe of Kazakhstan at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT) on Sunday.
The crew spent an impressive 220 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), completing 3,520 orbits around Earth. This mission marked Pettit’s fourth journey into space, bringing his total time spent in orbit to 590 days. While he holds the title of the oldest active astronaut, the record for the oldest person to fly in space still belongs to John Glenn, who flew at the age of 77 in 1998.
After their landing, Pettit and his fellow astronauts will need some time to readjust to Earth’s gravity. Following this period, Pettit will be flown to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will return to Russia’s main space training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow. Before leaving the ISS, the crew handed over command to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
Pettit’s return comes shortly after two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, faced delays in their own return from the ISS. They spent over nine months in space due to technical issues with their spacecraft, which extended their mission well beyond the planned eight days.
As Pettit celebrates this milestone birthday, his journey continues to inspire many in the field of space exploration. His experiences highlight the ongoing commitment and achievements of astronauts working aboard the ISS, contributing to our understanding of life in space.