For more than twenty years, the international space station has been the scene of scientific explorations carried out under the extreme conditions of microgravity. As missions lie down, astronauts become direct witnesses to the effects of space vacuum on the human body and the mind. Don Pettit, an essential figure of NASA, has just concluded its third stay aboard the Orbital laboratory. His return to Earth at 70, marked by well -known physical symptoms of stews, relaunches questions about human limits in the face of long -term exploration.
This reaction is far from exceptional. The human organism, deprived of severity for months, lost in bone density, in muscle tone and even modifies its marks of equilibrium. At Petit, this rehabilitation has always been difficult: “Some can get out of a space flight and go eating a pizza. Me, returning to Earth has always been a challenge,” he recognized. Earthly transport evil – a sort of inversion of seasickness – is a striking illustration. After more than 590 days spent in the total space, his body knows the slightest side effects of the return, and its post-theft convalescence will spread over a month.
A 220 -day mission between science and photography
During this mission, started in September 2024, Don Pettit held the function of flight engineer for shipments 71 and 72 aboard the ISS. In 220 days, he and his teammates produced more than 3,500 orbits around the earth, traveling the equivalent of 93 million kilometers. The return was supervised by the NASA teams, according to the statement published on April 19, after a parachute assisted landing near the city of Zhezkazgan.
During this long mission, Petit carried out several research intended to facilitate future space explorations. It has contributed to improving metallic 3D printing in microgravity, tested with water purification technologies, studied plant growth under different levels of irrigation and observed the behavior of fire in weightlessness. This type of research, impossible to carry out on earth, is essential for future long -term missions, especially towards the Moon or Mars. In parallel, the scientist continued another passion: the photograph of space, which he practices with a poet eye and a technician rigor.
Don petit, 70 years old and always ready for space
If he celebrated his 70th birthday the same day of his return, Don Pettit does not plan to retire. On the contrary, he said with determination to be “ready for a new mission”, inspired by the example of John Glenn, who had stolen at the age of 77. For him, Explorer remains a vocation more than a profession. Age does not scare it, any more than the side effects of the return. “Being an explorer of space is what I am intended for,” he said with conviction.
His commitment recalls that spatial exploration is not limited to the physical performance of the youngest. Experience, the ability to manage unforeseen events and scientific curiosity are precious assets on board the ISS. NASA knows this well, and therefore continues to rely on experienced profiles for its long -term missions. At a time when the United States is turning to the Artemis and Martian projects, Don Petit remains an emblematic figure of this generation of pioneers who postpone the limits of the possible, without giving up the dream of a new start to the stars.
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