NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on his 70th birthday after 220 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). He landed in Kazakhstan with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft.
Pettit, born on April 20, 1955, in Silverton, Oregon, expressed that the concept of 'home' is relative to one's experiences. He reflected on the future, imagining crews returning from Mars and viewing Earth as their home.
The Soyuz MS-26 undocked from the ISS at 5:57 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The crew was met by Russian recovery forces and NASA medical personnel for initial checks before returning to their respective training centers.
During his mission, Pettit conducted science demonstrations and oversaw the arrival and departure of several spacecraft. Ovchinin and Vagner also participated in science experiments and a spacewalk.
This mission marked Pettit's fourth spaceflight, bringing his total time in space to 590 days. Soyuz MS-26 traveled 93.3 million miles while orbiting Earth 3,520 times.