Oldest US Astronaut Celebrates 70th Birthday with Historic Return to Earth

On his milestone birthday, Pettit's journey marks another chapter in the exploration of space, recalling the challenges and triumphs of a remarkable career.

America's oldest serving astronaut, Don Pettit, made a noteworthy return to Earth on Sunday, coinciding with his 70th birthday. The Soyuz MS-26 capsule, carrying Pettit along with Russian astronauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, completed a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan's expansive steppe at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT). This mission added 220 days to Pettit's total of 590 days spent in space across four missions.

During their time aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the crew completed 3,520 orbits around the Earth. Although Pettit is the oldest active astronaut, the record for the oldest person to fly in space remains with John Glenn, who achieved that at the age of 77 during a NASA mission in 1998.

Following their landing, Pettit will take time to readjust to Earth's gravity before heading to Houston, Texas, while his Russian counterparts will return to their space training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow. The crew's handover of command of the ISS to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi marks the transition as NASA looks forward to future missions.

In an exciting parallel story, last month saw NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams make their long-awaited return to Earth after an unexpectedly extended stay aboard the ISS, totaling over nine months due to technical challenges faced during their initial launch.