Nasa's oldest astronaut marks 70th birthday after returning from space

Nasa officials at the landing site reported that Don Pettit is in good condition and is undergoing routine medical checks

Nasa astronaut Don Pettit celebrated his 70th birthday on Sunday by completing his latest mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), marking the end of a seven-month journey through space. Pettit returned to Earth on April 19 (April 20, IST) alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

 

The trio departed the ISS at 5:57 pm EDT (3:27 am IST, Sunday) aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and landed safely at 9:20 pm (6:50 am, IST) near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, in a parachute-assisted descent. The mission spanned 220 days and 93.3 million miles, with the crew completing 3,520 orbits of Earth. 

 

Happy birthday, @astro_Pettit! Many happy returns (including this one) ????  The MS-26 Soyuz spacecraft touched down in Kazakhstan at 9:20pm ET—or, in local time, 6:20am April 20, Pettit's 70th birthday. pic.twitter.com/qFM5fAxnA0

— NASA (@NASA) April 20, 2025

  A video was shared on Pettit's X handle ahead of his departure, which shows him glancing from the International Space Station's Cupola module, providing a panoramic view of Earth. "Mother Earth, I am coming home," he captioned the post. 

Mother Earth, I am coming home. pic.twitter.com/lxxAQICzMJ

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 19, 2025

 

Pettit, who launched on September 11, 2024, served as a flight engineer during Expeditions 71 and 72. Throughout the mission, he conducted key experiments in areas such as metal 3D printing in space, water sanitisation technologies, plant growth under varying water conditions, and fire behaviour in microgravity.

 

Nasa officials at the landing site reported that Pettit is in good condition and is undergoing routine medical checks. He will soon return to Houston's Johnson Space Center aboard a Nasa aircraft.    This flight marked Pettit’s fourth mission to space and brings his total time spent in orbit to 590 days, making him one of Nasa’s most experienced astronauts. His crewmates, Ovchinin and Vagner, have now accumulated 595 and 416 days in space, respectively.

 

Who is Don Pettit? 

 

A native of Silverton, Oregon, Pettit holds a doctorate in chemical engineering and began his career at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 1996 and first flew to space in 2002 during Expedition 6. He later took part in the STS-126 mission in 2008 and served on Expeditions 30 and 31 in 2011–2012.

 

Across these missions, Pettit has been involved in major milestones including two spacewalks, robotic arm operations, and helping capture the first commercial cargo spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon D1.

 

In addition to his scientific work, Pettit is widely recognised for his creative experiments during his personal time aboard the station, as well as his striking photography from orbit.