A veteran NASA astronaut who flew to orbit more than seven months ago with two Russians is preparing to return to Earth.
Don Pettit, who arrived Sept. 11, 2024 for his third-ever stint at the International Space Station, is expected to depart April 19 with two cosmonauts on the same Soyuz space capsule that transported them to the orbital laboratory.
For more than 200 days, Pettit, as well as Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner – both of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency – have lived and worked at the space station while conducting scientific research for future deep space exploration and performing station maintenance. Much of Pettit’s time at the station also overlapped with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ extended orbital mission following the failure of the astronauts’ Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The impending departure of the three spacefarers would come 11 days after the arrival of a replacement crew that included NASA astronaut Jonny Kim.
Here’s what to know about Pettit’s spaceflight and how to watch him return with Ovchinin and Vagner.
Who is Don Pettit? NASA astronaut reached ISS in September
NASA astronaut Don Pettit waves as he boards the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft for a mission to the International Space Station.
Pettit, who turns 70 on Sunday, has now flown on three long-duration missions to the space station since he was selected as an astronaut in 1996.
A native of Oregon, Pettit holds a degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University and a doctorate from the University of Arizona. Prior to becoming an astronaut, he worked as a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Pettit’s first spaceflight came in 2003 when he served as science officer during the six-month Expedition 6 at the space station. Previously, he also served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 30 and 31 between 2011 and 2012, where he lived in space for more than a year.
In 2008, Pettit was part of a Space Shuttle mission delivering equipment to the space station.
Pettit’s fourth and most recent spaceflight got off the ground in September, when he lifted off with Ovchinin and Vagner on a Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. The vehicle launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport Russia’s space agency Roscosmos operates within Kazakhstan.
Astronaut Don Pettit inspects a spacesuit aboard the International Space Station’s Quest airlock.
NASA to livestream return voyage
Now, about 220 days later, the three spacefarers are preparing to head back to Earth.
Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner are planning to undock April 19 from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. ET, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. in a remote area of Kazakhstan.
NASA will provide live coverage of the return voyage beginning at 2 p.m. ET April 19 on the space agency’s streaming service, NASA+.
A change of command ceremony will take place the day before at 2:40 p.m. ET April 18, which NASA will also livestream.
A complete schedule of coverage can be found here.
After returning to Earth, the three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the city of Karaganda. From there, Pettit will board a NASA plane for a flight to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.
Expedition 73 to begin at International Space Station
The newly-expanded Expedition 72 crew gathers for a ceremony welcoming (front row, from left) NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskoy. Expedition 73 will soon commence following the departure of three other spacefarers, including NASA astronaut Don Pettit, pictured at Kim’s left.
The imminent departure of the outgoing astronauts sets the stage for the most recent arrivals to soon commence on Expedition 73 at the space station.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky were the most recent spacefarers to reach the station April 8.
Their arrival came less than a month after four international spacefarers on a SpaceX mission known as Crew-10 reached the space station. That mission drew headlines for its role in paving the way for the NASA astronauts who flew on the infamous Boeing Starliner to return home with the Crew-9 contingent.
The Crew-10 mission includes NASA astronaut Anne McClain, NASA pilot Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA.) Onishi will serve as the Expedition 73 commander.
Up next, the new crew of the space station will await the arrival of a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft on a resupply mission set to launch early Monday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA astronaut to return home after more than 200 days at ISS
