The oldest serving astronaut of the United States, Don Pettit, returned to Earth to celebrate his 70th birthday.
According to BBC, Pettit, after wrapping up a seven-month mission onboard the International Space Station (ISS), returned to Earth on Sunday, April 20, 2025, which is on his 70th birthday.
The Soyuz MS-26 space capsule carrying Pettit along with his two Russian crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner made a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan's steppe at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT) on Sunday.
As per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the astronauts returned after spending 220 days on board the ISS, orbiting the Earth 3,520 times.
After spending some time to adjust to gravity, Pettit, who has now spent a total of 590 days in space in four missions, will be flown to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will head towards Russia's main space training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow.
The US space agency stated that Pettit was “doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth.”
According to ABC News, Pettit spent his time in space while conducting research about in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advancing water sanitation technologies, exploring plant growth under varying water conditions, and investigating fire behaviour in microgravity.
Notably, although Pettit is the oldest serving NASA astronaut, he is not the oldest person to fly in orbit, as the record belongs to John Glenn, who flew on a NASA mission at the age of 77 in 1998.
