Dan Pettit, the oldest serving U.S. astronaut, returns to Earth from a 220-day mission aboard the ISS on his 70th birthday, now having spent a total of 590 days in space.
NASA's Oldest Astronaut Dan Pettit Returns Home on Milestone Birthday
NASA's Oldest Astronaut Dan Pettit Returns Home on Milestone Birthday
70-year-old Dan Pettit concludes his fourth space mission, marking over 590 days in orbit.
America's oldest serving astronaut, Dan Pettit, made a historic return to Earth on his 70th birthday aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. The landing occurred at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT) in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan. Pettit was accompanied by Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner after spending 220 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), traversing the Earth 3,520 times throughout their mission.
This latest journey marks Pettit's fourth mission into space, bringing his total duration to an impressive 590 days. While he holds the title of the oldest active astronaut, the record for the oldest person to fly in orbit remains with John Glenn, who completed a mission at 77 years of age in 1998.
Upon returning, Pettit and his fellow cosmonauts will take some time to readjust to Earth's gravity. Following this readjustment, Pettit will be flown to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will proceed to Russia's primary space training facility in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, located near Moscow.
Prior to their departure from the ISS, the crew passed command of the spacecraft to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. Last month, NASA also saw the return of two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were delayed in returning home after a nine-month stay at the ISS due to technical complications with their spacecraft, having initially planned an eight-day trip.
