NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth Saturday, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the Worldwide House Station.
The trio departed the house station at 5:57 p.m. EDT aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft earlier than making a secure, parachute-assisted touchdown at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, Kazakhstan time), southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Pettit additionally celebrates his seventieth birthday on Sunday, April 20.
Spanning 220 days in house, Pettit and his crewmates orbited the Earth 3,520 instances, finishing a journey of 93.3 million miles. Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner launched and docked to the orbiting laboratory on Sept. 11, 2024.
Throughout his time aboard the house station, Pettit carried out analysis to boost in-orbit metallic 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitization applied sciences, discover plant progress below various water situations, and examine hearth conduct in microgravity, all contributing to future house missions. He additionally used his environment aboard station to conduct distinctive experiments in his spare time and captivate the general public along with his images.
This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, the place he served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 71 and 72. He has logged 590 days in orbit all through his profession. Ovchinin accomplished his fourth flight, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an total whole of 416 days in house throughout two spaceflights.
NASA is following its routine postlanding medical checks, the crew will return to the restoration staging space in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will then board a NASA aircraft sure for the company’s Johnson House Middle in Houston. Based on NASA officers on the touchdown website, Pettit is doing nicely and within the vary of what’s anticipated for him following return to Earth.
For greater than 20 years, folks have lived and labored repeatedly aboard the Worldwide House Station, advancing scientific information and making analysis breakthroughs that aren’t potential on Earth. The station is a crucial testbed for NASA to grasp and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to develop industrial alternatives in low Earth orbit. As industrial corporations deal with offering human house transportation providers and locations as a part of a powerful low Earth orbit financial system, NASA is focusing extra assets on deep house missions to the Moon as a part of Artemis in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars.
Study extra about Worldwide House Station analysis and operations at:
-end-
Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson House Middle, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
