Crew renewal aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Last Sunday, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and astronauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos (Russian space agency) returned to Earth after a seven-month mission in orbit. The American astronaut took the opportunity to celebrate his birthday, and not just any birthday, since the Oregon native was blowing out his 70 candles. The oldest active astronaut was concluding his final mission in space.
NASA congratulated its astronaut for his work and his impact on the world of aerospace. NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 flight engineer Nichole Ayers wrote on X last Saturday that Don Pettit's return and retirement were "bittersweet, as he accomplished an extraordinary mission and inspired so many people during his time." It must be said that in his record, the oldest astronaut orbited Earth no fewer than three times, between 2002 and 2003 (Expedition 6), 2011 and 2012 (Expedition 30/31), and between 2024 and 2025, between Expedition 71 and 72.
«Home, on the other side of the Earth»
Passionate photography and swimming, the man wrote on April 18, a few hours before boarding his last space capsule, that he was going to return home to Earth. "When our capsule lands on these desert plains, in the steppes of Kazakhstan, I will literally be on the other side of the Earth, nearly 19,000 kilometers from home. Yet, I will be home.”He took the opportunity to show his conviction that one day “in the future, a crew will return from Mars and, after inserting itself into low Earth orbit, will look at this blue jewel rotating below and say: ‘I am home.””
Despite his various missions for NASA, Don Pettit is one of those American astronauts who has regularly worked with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, to reach the ISS or deorbit. The two agencies, despite the war in Ukraine that isolated Russia, continue to collaborate for the smooth renewal of astronauts aboard the ISS, and recently signed for an extension of their agreement until 2027.
Despite According to numerous reports, Don Pettit was not included on NASA's STS-126 mission, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched on November 18, 2008. Tasked with delivering equipment to the ISS, the mission did not include the astronaut, despite his presence on the ground support crew. This didn't stop him from claiming a total of 590 days spent in orbit, with 236 days on his last mission, 193 days on Expedition 30/31, and 161 days on Expedition 6.
Source: Space.com
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