On April 20, 2025, Dan Pettit, America's oldest serving astronaut, commemorated his 70th birthday by returning to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. The spacecraft touched down in the expansive Kazakhstan steppe at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT), marking the end of a remarkable 220-day journey aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
During this mission, Pettit and his fellow astronauts, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, completed an incredible 3,520 orbits of Earth. With this latest space venture, Pettit has now accumulated a total of 590 days in space across four missions. Though he holds the distinction of being the oldest active astronaut, the title for the oldest person to fly in space still remains with John Glenn, who completed a mission at the age of 77 in 1998 before passing away in 2016.
Upon their return, Pettit and his colleagues will undergo a period of readjustment to gravity. Following this, Pettit will head to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will return to their training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow. Just before the crew's departure from the ISS, they transferred command to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
In a related event, last month two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, returned to Earth after an extended stay of more than nine months aboard the ISS, facing delays due to technical issues with their spacecraft. Their return was initially planned for eight days after they arrived in June 2024, highlighting the unpredictability and challenges associated with space exploration.
During this mission, Pettit and his fellow astronauts, Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, completed an incredible 3,520 orbits of Earth. With this latest space venture, Pettit has now accumulated a total of 590 days in space across four missions. Though he holds the distinction of being the oldest active astronaut, the title for the oldest person to fly in space still remains with John Glenn, who completed a mission at the age of 77 in 1998 before passing away in 2016.
Upon their return, Pettit and his colleagues will undergo a period of readjustment to gravity. Following this, Pettit will head to Houston, Texas, while Ovchinin and Vagner will return to their training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow. Just before the crew's departure from the ISS, they transferred command to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
In a related event, last month two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, returned to Earth after an extended stay of more than nine months aboard the ISS, facing delays due to technical issues with their spacecraft. Their return was initially planned for eight days after they arrived in June 2024, highlighting the unpredictability and challenges associated with space exploration.
