Don Pettit Celebrates 70th Birthday with Soyuz Return from Space

Tue Oct 21 2025 03:52:18 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

America's oldest astronaut lands in Kazakhstan after 220 days in orbit.

Don Pettit, the oldest serving astronaut in the U.S., has returned to Earth from the ISS, marking his 70th birthday with a remarkable journey of space exploration.

Don Pettit made history today as he returned to Earth, celebrating his 70th birthday by concluding an impressive 220-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Soyuz MS-26 capsule, carrying Pettit along with Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, successfully landed in the expansive steppe of Kazakhstan at 06:20 local time (01:20 GMT) on Sunday.

During their time in orbit, the trio completed more than 3,520 laps around the Earth, contributing to Pettit's cumulative 590 days spent in space over four missions—though he remains younger than John Glenn, who orbited at age 77 back in 1998. Following their landing, Pettit, a native of Oregon, will take some time to readjust to Earth's gravity before heading to Houston, while both Russian cosmonauts are en route to their training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok, near Moscow.

Before departing the ISS, the crew passed command to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. Last month, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth after an extended stay on the ISS, stretching to over nine months due to technical delays, highlighting the unpredictability of space travel timelines.