On His 70th Birthday, NASA's Oldest Astronaut Don Pettit Set To Return To Earth

Don Pettit, NASA's oldest astronaut, is set to return from space on April 19, his 70th birthday. Mr Pettit, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has completed more than 3,520 orbits of Earth.

The latest mission marks his fourth spaceflight after Expedition 6, Expedition 30/31, and a Space Shuttle Endeavour. He spent 220 days in space on this mission, bringing his total to 590 days over his decades-long career.

Mr Pettit completed a journey of 93.3 million miles and shared multiple photographs and time-lapse videos of Earth's auroras, thunderstorms, and city lights on social media platforms.

Image Posted On X By: @astro_Pettit

On his X account, he posted a stunning video of formation flying, capturing Starlink satellites tracing parallel lines in the night sky.

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

Other than this, he shared another clip of the ISS while it rotated 180 degrees, also offering a breathtaking view of the Northern Lights.

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

In another post, sharing a video of aurora seen between Australia and Antarctica, he wrote, "Aurora seen today from @Space_Station while orbit was passing between Australia and Antarctica; photographer @astro_jannicke now on the private FRAM2 space mission will be having an even better view in their polar orbit."
 

Aurora seen today from @Space_Station while orbit was passing between Australia and Antartrica; photographer @astro_jannicke now on the private FRAM2 space mission will be having an even better view in their polar orbit. pic.twitter.com/8IIiWBDtu8

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 4, 2025

Mr Pettit also shared a video that showed lightning-like events happening above thunderstorms over the Amazon Basin, showing Sprites, Blue Jets, and other TLEs as seen in real-time.

Image Posted On X By: @astro_Pettit

"OK, this is kind of out there and caters to your inner Uber-Geek.  Nadir view of Transient Luminous Events (TLE ) or upper atmospheric lightning," he wrote. The clip's real time was about 6 seconds over the Amazon basin and showed a number of TLE displays from Sprites to blue jets from a downward-looking view, he added.

OK, this is kind of out there and caters to your inner Uber-Geek. Nadir view of Transient Luminous Events (TLE ) or upper atmospheric lightning. This clip real time is about 6 seconds over the Amazon basin and shows a number of TLE displays from Sprites to blue jets from a… pic.twitter.com/IE0Edtm2Rl

— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 3, 2025

Mr Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, will depart the ISS' Rassvet module aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft at 5:57 p.m. EDT, and a parachute-assisted touchdown is expected in the Kazakhstani steppe, southeast of Dzhezkazgan, at 9:20 p.m. EDT (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time on April 20).