Don Pettit is heading home from space on his 70th birthday. The NASA astronaut will return on 19th April after completing his fourth mission. Floating abroad the International Space Station (ISS), he has spent 220 days in orbit this time. This brings his total to 590 days across his long career. With more than 3,520 orbits of Earth, Mr Pettit has seen the planet in a way few ever have.
Capturing Earth’s beauty from above:
During his mission, Mr Pettit travelled 93.3 million miles in orbit. He regularly shared videos and images that fascinated viewers online. One post featured Starlink satellites flying in perfect formation.
Formation flying; Starlink satellites tracing parallel lines in the sky.
Thanks to @BabakTafreshi for assembling this clip from timelapse images. pic.twitter.com/9vCKt1lCx5— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 11, 2025
Another showed the ISS rotating 180 degrees with the Northern Lights glowing in the background.
Changes in attitude, changes in latitude: @Space_Station We rotated 180 degrees and flew backwards for yesterday’s Soyuz docking. This is a bit long but keep watching for the surprise in the middle. pic.twitter.com/UDEp8zKDwE
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 9, 2025
Returning home after a long journey:
Mr Pettit will leave the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-26. He will travel alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Their spacecraft will undock from the Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. EDT. The team is expected to land in Kazakhstan at 9:20 p.m. EDT (6:20 a.m. local time, 20 April). The capsule will touch down with parachute assistance near Dzhezkazgan.
As Pettit marks his 70th birthday, he returns with memories few can match — and stories written in stars.
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