The spacecraft’s descent, assisted by a parachute, happened to mark the US astronaut’s 70th birthday, as mentioned by NASA on Twitter.
“Happy birthday, @astro_Pettit! Many happy returns (including this one) 🥳. The MS-26 Soyuz spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan at 9:20pm ET—6:20am April 20, Pettit’s 70th birthday. pic.twitter.com/qFM5fAxnA0,” reads the tweet from NASA.
NASA reported that the crew has been moved to a recovery area in Karaganda, where Pettit is reported to be in good health.
Arriving at the ISS on September 11, 2024, the crew spent 220 days in space, completing 3,520 orbits around the Earth and covering a distance of 93.3 million miles (150.15 million km), as per NASA’s statement.
During his mission, Pettit focused on researching “in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities” and “water sanitisation technologies,” alongside studying plant growth and fire behavior in space.
For Pettit, this was his fourth spaceflight, bringing his total time in orbit to 590 days. Ovchinin has spent a total of 595 days in space over four missions, and Wagner has logged 416 days over two flights.
Despite geopolitical tensions, space exploration remains a cooperative effort between the US and Russia.
Earlier this month, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft transported another US-Russian crew—NASA’s Jonathan Kim, along with Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky—to the ISS for further scientific research. However, other collaborations beyond this have been suspended by the US and other Western countries due to sanctions imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
