An astronaut and avid photographer journeyed back to space for a fourth time on Wednesday.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit, first ventured to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 6 in November 2003 and last returned from a trip to the orbiting outpost on July 1, 2012.
Pettit departed for the ISS on the Soyuz MS-26 mission on Wednesday, Sept. 11, alongside Soyuz commander Alexey Ovchinin and fellow cosmonaut Ivan Vagner.
Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome happened at 9:23 p.m. MSK (12:23 p.m. EDT, 1623 UTC).
During prelaunch interviews on Aug. 16, Pettit described being in space as his “home away from home.” “Each time you go into space, it’s a little different.
Pettit takes credit for driving the design of the mission patch that will represent Expedition 72.
“I told the NASA graphic designer to make an Expedition 1-type patch, make it round instead of rectangular, but bring the configuration of the space station up to date,” Pettit said.
And he even put the iROSA solar panel upgrades on the profile of station in their proper location.
“There’s just a certain facet of when I go into space that just fundamentally is just fundamentally on resonance with my soul,” Pettit said.
In addition to Pettit and his two cosmonaut crew mates, there are nine people onboard the space station, four astronauts inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience for the Polaris Dawn mission and three Chinese taikonauts onboard the Tiangong space station.
On Wednesday, an astronaut and ardent photographer made their fourth space mission. Don Pettit, a NASA astronaut, visited the International Space Station for the first time as part of Expedition 6 in November 2003 and returned on July 1, 2012, after his most recent visit.
On Wednesday, September 26, Pettit set out on the Soyuz MS-26 mission to the International Space Station. 11.1 with fellow cosmonaut Ivan Vagner and Soyuz commander Alexey Ovchinin. This was the start of Vagner’s second flight and Ovchinin’s fourth.
It was 9:23 p.m. when the Baikonur Cosmodrome launched. M. MSK (12:23 p.m. M. EDT (1623 UTC).
In interviews conducted prior to launch on August. 16, Pettit said that his “home away from home” was space. “.
Every time you travel into space, something new happens. Since your last visit, things have changed, according to Pettit. “I’m an astronaut who has to be sitting on a rocket and flying in space, just like a cowboy who wants to be out on a horse in the range. “.
With the space station now in orbit, Expedition 71 will shortly give way to Expedition 72. Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Tracy Dyson, the crew of Soyuz MS-25, will depart, officially marking that as official.
The mission patch that will symbolize Expedition 72 was designed primarily by Pettit, who deserves credit for that. He claimed that the forthcoming design was motivated by the Expedition 1 patch’s simplicity.
“I instructed the NASA graphic designer to create a patch akin to the Expedition 1, adjust the shape from rectangle to round, and update the space station’s layout,” Pettit remarked. Sean Collins did exactly that. Additionally, he correctly positioned the upgraded iROSA solar panels on the station’s profile. I therefore appreciate this patch’s simplicity. “.
Among the many things Pettit has contributed to the astronaut office since being chosen in 1996 is his remarkable photographs taken while in orbit. Working with the camera used in the videos shown inside the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas will be one of his goals.
He added that he was excited to advance the technology to capture more dynamic nighttime photos while in orbit.
Pettit added, “They just arrived on station with NG-21, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft that was recently launched. I’ve actually talked NASA into flying a number of new lenses, highly optimized for nighttime imagery.”. “I’m excited to utilize these lenses that are optimized for nighttime use. “.
In 2012, Pettit is also notable for having taken the one millionth picture aboard the International Space Station. According to him, his goal upon his return is to capture “interesting phenomena” rather than score points. ”.
Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) is an atmospheric phenomenon that has recently been observed and is commonly linked to the aurora. Pettit emphasized that she was keen to see if she could capture this phenomenon. “To see if I accidentally caught Steve, I’ve gone back and reviewed my photos from Expedition 30 and 31. I’m hoping to truly see if I can capture a large scale view of the STEVE phenomenon because up until now, I have not seen any imagery with STEVE from my mission or from missions conducted since then. “.
With over a decade of development behind it, Pettit will be returning to an ISS. As fellow travelers who have also been away from the International Space Station (ISS) for more than ten years, he said he turned to NASA astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt for their advice.
Their response caught me off guard. The station has been reported to be more orderly and clean. Additionally, Pettit stated that the software tools available for inventory management, stowage, and even running the station on time are significantly more effective than those used in the past.
“They were impressed by how much more efficiently things were running on the space station now than they were ten, twelve, and sometimes even fourteen years ago. “.
In the interim between missions, Pettit has been hard at work performing tasks for the astronaut office, such as working as a technical astronaut on NASA’s Gateway program and SpaceX’s Human Landing System version of the Starship rocket.
He did, however, add that nothing can match the feeling of returning to space on one’s own.
“When I travel into space, there’s just a certain aspect that just fundamentally is just fundamentally on resonance with my soul,” Pettit remarked. “I am thrilled to have another chance to travel into space and feel incredibly fortunate. “.
Pettit merely answered, “No, I like to say, this is my next spaceflight,” when asked if this would be his final space mission. “.
made history.
A new world record was broken with the launch and arrival of the Soyuz MS-26 mission in orbit. 19, surpassing the previous record of 17, set in May 2023, to orbit the Earth simultaneously for the first time.
Nine people are on board the space station in addition to Pettit and his two cosmonaut crewmates. Four astronauts are inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience for the Polaris Dawn mission, and three Chinese taikonauts are on board the Tiangong space station.
As the Polaris Dawn quartet gets ready to conduct the first spacewalk without the participation of a national government agency like NASA or Roscosmos, the record is released.
