Don Pettit, NASA’s oldest astronaut, returned from his latest mission in space on April 20th, the day he turned 70 years old.
Don Pettit, NASA’s oldest astronaut, returned from his latest mission on April 20th, the day he turned 70 years old. He spent 220 days in space and once again captured amazing images.
Since his first experience in the orbital laboratory, Pettit has used his free time on the space station to show the beauty of space and also to document the lives of astronauts in orbit.
Pettit takes his photos from the space station’s dome, which is the crew’s favorite because of its seven windows with a view of Earth. He even sets up 5 cameras at the same time to make sure he doesn’t miss any event.
Most people will never have the chance to go to space. “I could try to give them a glimpse through my pictures,” Pettit said during a press conference a few weeks after his return.
In an interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pettit talked about the beauty of Earth as seen from space: “Earth is incredibly beautiful when your feet are firmly planted on the ground, and it’s beautiful when seen from space,” he said.
“And it’s hard to say which is more beautiful. I think it’s because space is a unique opportunity that we seek to focus on the beauty of being in orbit. If we had people living their whole lives in orbit, when they came back to Earth, they would probably think this was the most beautiful perspective they had ever seen.”
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