Having completed more than 3,520 orbits around Earth and traveled 93.3 million miles, Don Pettit has gained a viewpoint of our planet that very few individuals will ever have the opportunity to experience.
Don Pettit is set to return to Earth on his 70th birthday, concluding his fourth mission with NASA. After spending 220 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during this latest expedition, his cumulative time in orbit has reached 590 days. Having completed over 3,520 orbits around our planet and traveled 93.3 million miles, Pettit has gained a unique perspective of Earth that few have experienced.
During his mission, Pettit shared a variety of captivating images and videos from space. He posted a video showcasing Starlink satellites moving in formation, another featuring the ISS rotating 180 degrees against the backdrop of the Northern Lights, and breathtaking footage of auroras visible between Australia and Antarctica.
In one of his posts, he acknowledged fellow space photographer @astro_jannicke, who is currently participating in the private FRAM2 mission.
Pettit also released a remarkable video capturing rare upper-atmosphere lightning over the Amazon, displaying sprites and blue jets illuminating the sky. With his characteristic humor, he captioned the video, “This is for your inner Uber-Geek.”
He will return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, accompanied by Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. The crew is scheduled to undock from the ISS’s Rassvet module on April 19 and land near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on April 20, utilizing parachutes for their descent.
As Don Pettit marks his 70th birthday, he returns not only as an experienced astronaut but also as a storyteller who has brought the wonders of space a little closer to those on Earth.
