Oldest serving NASA astronaut Don Pettit turned 70 on April 20 and marked the occasion while returning back to Earth from his seven-month stint aboard the International Space Station. This was Pettit's fourth space mission, wherein he was serving as a flight engineer for Expeditions 71 and 72. He was accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner on the Soyuz MS-26 space capsule, which travelled for over three hours to make a parachute-assisted landing in southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 6:50 am IST. The trio had commenced their journey back to earth at around 3:27 am IST, having spent 220 days in space. During their stay at the ISS, Pettit and his crewmates orbited the Earth 3,520 times, travelling 93.3 million miles. After the completion of post-landing medical checks, NASA officials at the site said that Pettit was doing well, and was "in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth". With the completion of this space flight, Pettit has now spent 590 days in space. NASA said that after flying to Karaganda in Kazakhstan, Pettit would board a flight to travel to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. His crewmates Ovchinin and Vagner will return to Zvyozdniy Gorodok, which is Russia's main space training base, located near the capital city of Moscow, a BBC report said. Born in Oregon on 20 April 1955, Pettit has spent more than 18 months in orbit during his career, which spans 29 years, according to The Guardian. During his time at the ISS, Pettit conducted research which would aid in enhancing in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitization technologies, explored plant growth under varying water conditions, and observed fire behaviour in microgravity, according to NASA. The investigations, NASA said, will contribute to future space missions. Pettit also made use of his surroundings to conduct unique experiments, calling it "science of opportunity". He also captured thrilling visuals of facilities inside the ISS and of the outer space, taking snapshot of the "cosmic colors at sunrise" and the Mediterranean Sea from the ISS. One of the images Petit clicked displayed the hands of NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams inside the Life Science Glovebox in the space station, which according to NASA "separates the science from the scientists", protecting both from contamination.
