Veteran NASA astronaut Don Pettit has returned to Earth in a momentous homecoming on his 70th birthday.
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying Pettit and his Russian crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner successfully landed in Kazakhstan early Sunday morning, completing 220 days in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
This marks Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, solidifying his legacy with a total 590 days spent beyond Earth’s atmosphere over his career. Despite his impressive record, he is not the oldest astronaut to travel to space—that title remains with John Glenn, who flew at age 77 in 1998.
Before their departure, Pettit and his crew handed over command of the ISS to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, ensuring a smooth transition for the ongoing operations aboard the orbital station.
Upon arrival back on Earth, the crew will undergo readjustment to gravity before Pettit heads to Houston, Texas, and Ovchinin and Vagner return to Russia’s Star City.
