NASA astronaut's memorable milestone at age 70

Astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on his 70th birthday, April 20 - Photo: REUTERS

Cake, gifts and a modest family party may be how many seniors look forward to their 70th birthday. However, NASA’s oldest astronaut, Don Pettit, celebrated his 70th birthday with a splashdown after a seven-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts landed in Kazakhstan on April 20, on Mr. Pettit's important birthday.

"Today at 04:20 (Moscow time), the Soyuz MS-26 lander carrying Alexei Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Donald Pettit landed near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan," Russia's Roscosmos space agency said.

During the 220-day mission, Mr. Pettit and his Russian colleagues orbited the Earth 3,520 times, covering 150 million kilometers. This was Mr. Pettit's fourth space flight. During his 29-year career, he has spent more than 18 months in orbit.

"The farther we go, the stronger the feeling of coming home becomes, like driving into the gate and feeling at home. When our capsule crashes into the flat desert, I will be on the other side of the world, more than 12,000 miles from home. But I will be home.

"I can imagine that at some point in the future, a crew will return from Mars and after entering low Earth orbit, they will look down at the spinning blue gem below and say I'm home," the 70-year-old astronaut shared on social media before starting his journey home.

The trio touched down just over three hours after separating from the ISS, according to AFP. NASA images of the landing show the capsule carrying the astronauts parachuting down to Earth in the dawn light.

According to NASA, astronauts have focused on research in areas such as water sanitation technology, plant growth in various conditions, and the properties of fire in microgravity.

Space is one of the last areas of cooperation between the US and Russia as relations between Moscow and Washington have almost completely broken down over the conflict in Ukraine.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cot-moc-dang-nho-cua-phi-hanh-gia-nasa-o-tuoi-70-20250422090744457.htm