American Don Pettit returned to Earth this Sunday, the day he turns 70, after spending 220 days on the International Space Station (ISS).
In addition to Don Pettit, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft was carrying Russians Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, according to the Russian Flight Control Center (VCC).
The landing took place at 01:20 GMT on Sunday, less than 150 kilometers southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan, in the Kazakh steppe, less than four hours after the Russian Rassvet module undocked from the ISS.
“Over the course of 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates orbited Earth 3,520 times, completing a journey of 58 million miles (93.3 million kilometers). Pettit, Ovchinin and Vagner were launched and docked with the orbiting laboratory on Sept. 11, 2024,” NASA said in a statement.
The agency also reported that this was Pettit's fourth spaceflight, having served as a flight engineer on Expeditions 71 and 72. Ovchinin also completed his fourth flight, totaling 595 days in orbit, and Vagner accumulated 416 days in space in two spaceflights.
“During his time aboard the space station, Pettit conducted research to improve on-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitization technologies, explore plant growth in variable water conditions, and investigate fire behavior in microgravity, all of which will contribute to future space missions. He also used the environment aboard the station to conduct unique experiments in his spare time and captivate the public with his photography.”
Meanwhile, Ovchinin handed over command of the orbital platform to Japan's Takuya Onishi on Friday during a traditional ceremony.
Recently, Soyuz MS-27, crewed by Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim, successfully docked with the space station.
Russian Kiril Peskov, Americans Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers and Japanese Onishi, all members of the 72nd expedition, will remain on the platform for a longer period.
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