by guest author Jonathan David
Don Petit, the current oldest active astronaut, returned to Earth on his 70th birthday from
a 220-day mission on the International Space Station. He spent many hours on scientific
research in the areas of 3D printing in space, water sanitation, plant growth and fire behavior in
microgravity. This was his fourth mission, totaling 590 days of space time. His main job on the
team is flight engineer.
In an April 28th interview at Johnson Space Center he concluded by sharing, “ I could
look out the window and just enjoy the view. But, when I’m looking out the window just enjoying,
its like, ‘Oh, Wow. A meteor. Oh, wow, look at that. Man, there’s a flasher. What’s that? And, oh,
look at that. A volcano going off? It’s like, okay, where’s my camera? I got to record that. And
part of this drive for me is when your mission is over, it’s photographs and memories.’”
Thank you for reading this article. Stay tuned for more NASA news! Special thanks to
ABC News for interview information.
The Lighthouse 