American astronaut Don Pettit landed on Earth on April 20 as part of the crew of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. He turned 70 on the day of his return, and he is the oldest astronaut to remain in active service.
Donald Pettit has returned to Earth
On April 20, the crew of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft returned to Earth. The capsule landed in Kazakhstan near the city of Dzhezkazgan. On board were American astronaut Donald Pettit and two of his Russian colleagues, Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.
It was Pettit who made this landing special. The fact is that it was on this very day that he turned 70 years old. Some can only dream of living to such an age and celebrating it at home with family. And he met that day heading back to Earth in a spacecraft capsule.
The landing went without problems. The capsule reached the Earth’s surface at 01:20 GMT. Despite his advanced age Pettit endured it without much trouble. His health after landing is no worse than it is common for people who have spent several months in orbit.
The fourth flight of the oldest active astronaut
Don Pettit is the oldest astronaut now still actively involved in missions. His result is second overall. The oldest person to ever fly into space remains John Glenn, who made his second flight at the age of 77 back in 1998.
For Pettit, this trip to orbit was his fourth. “Soyuz MS-26 launched to the International Space Station last September. Therefore, the space mission veteran spent 220 days in orbit. There, he and his colleagues investigated water disinfection, plant growth, and combustion in weightlessness.
During this time Pettit managed to fly around the Earth 3,520 times covering 150 million kilometers, which is approximately equal to the distance from the Earth to the Sun. In total, he has spent a total of 18 months in space during his 29-year career.
According to phys.org
