On the eve of his seventieth birthday, Don Bettite, the oldest active astronaut in NASA, and two of his colleagues in astronauts packed for a gunshot to Earth to close an exploratory trip for 220 days to the International Space Station.
Pettit, Soyuz MS-26/72s Commander Alexey Ovchinin and IVAN VAGNER planning to slip from the space station at 5:57 pm EST on Saturday, and held a decline in the stews of Kazakhstan near the town of Dzhezkaz Jean three hours at 9:20 pm (6: 20 am day Sunday-locally.
The Soyuz MS-26/72S spacecraft was seen to the Russian Rassvet unit. The Cry-Alexean Ovchaneen, Ivan Wagner and Don NASA without Betette-violating and return to the ground on Saturday night (US time), where it landed on the steel of Kazakhstan early Sunday (local time) to conclude the seven-month mission. / Credit: NASA
Russian recovery sets and NASA employees were deployed soon to help the crew returning from the Soyuz origin with initial medical examinations and satellite calls to family and friends while starting to re -adjust them to gravity after seven months of weight.
Assuming the decline on time, the task period will remain in 220 days and about nine hours, and extends to 3520 orbits and 93.3 million miles Since the launch of last September 11 From Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Upon landing, Ovchinin had recorded 595 days in space over four trips, followed by Pettit closely, which would reach a total of 590 days on four of its own trips. Wagner’s total will be 416 days during two satellite station visits.
The global number is kept for most of the cumulative time in space Space Pioneer Oleg ConunkoWho spent nearly 1111 days in orbit on five missions. The United States record is kept by the astronaut Baiji Wittson. 675 days in space spent four trips.
Don Betette, the oldest active astronaut in NASA, will celebrate his seventieth birthday while landing in Kazakhstan. / Credit: NASA
As for Omar Betit, John Glen, the first American in orbit, was 77 years old when he flew on the space shuttle in 1988 as a NASA participant. It holds the record as the oldest person flying in orbit.
From Kazakhstan, Ovchinin and Vagner will return to Star City near Moscow while Pettit will be transferred to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for more detailed tests and start its physical rehabilitation.
The return of the trio to the ground was distinguished by the last chapter in the rotation of the extended crew that started with The launch of Spacex Crew 10 Commander Ann Maccin, Nicole Aires, a Japanese astronaut Takoya Ounishi and astronauts Kirill Peskov on March 14.
Crew 10 arrives at the station, the road was cleared to the Crew 9 Nick Hague commander, Alexander Gorbonov, Starliner Commander “Butch” Wilmore and Pilot Sunita Williams to Back to Earth after four days.
The Russians after that Alternatives were launched for the Betit crew – Soyuz Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky and Jonny Kim from NASA – on April 8, which led to the return of Ovchinin, Vagner and Pettit to return to Earth on Saturday.
During the Gunnia Change ceremony on Friday, Japanese astronaut Takoya Unishi, the far right, is from the outgoing commander Alexei Ovchaneen, to the far left. Wears red shirts, Ovchinin, Don Betett (the second from the left) and Ivan Wagner planning to return to Earth on Saturday (the timing of the United States) with a decline in Kazakhstan. / Credit: NASA
At a short party on Friday, Ovchinin turned the station’s driving to Onishi.
“It is a great honor for me to accept the ISS leadership,” Ounishi said. “I am so privacy that I am taking a leadership from you because almost nine years have passed since we met here in 2016 during Experedit 48. At that time, we were both young and here we were old and leaders of the leaders.”
Onchi said: “The human space journey is not easy. However, the constant dedication from generation to generation allowed humans to arrive here. Today, we have four young people (on board).
ISS has been constantly employed by rotating crews since October 31, 2000. It is scheduled to retire within five years, the laboratory faces problems on many fronts, starting from air leakage in the Russian part to unconfirmed financing, a lack of spare parts and re -supplied delays.
“Spaceflight is difficult and very risky,” Rich Williams, a member of the Independent Air Force Safety Consulting Committee, told the group at a meeting on Thursday. “Isse has entered the most dangerous period of its existence.”
Williams said: “The ISS management, support staff and support staff always make us seem easy. Spaceflight is not easy, and the increasing risks to the ISS program make it more difficult,” Williams said.
It is assumed that the air leakage in the rear desertion of the Zvezda unit are the results of metal fatigue and frequent pressure cycles such as visiting the Soyuz crew ships and advancing shipping charges.
Pettit is widely admired as a prominent photographer, who spends a lot of his spare time on the International Space Station for Astronomical Phenomena, Urals and Life on the Al -Madar Laboratory Complex. In this snapshot, exposure to the city lights via Southeast Asia and green glow from the fishing boats outside the beach. / Credit: NASA
Williams said: “The activities of mitigating the initial risks at this stage include application applications and correction on known cracks and reducing pressure cycles to try to reduce stress and fatigue,” Williams said. “ISS is closely monitoring this, and the committee looks at this one of our most important concerns.”
NASA was rented to build an American Diorit vehicle, or USDV, to drive a million -pound space station to the air in 2030 to ensure its separation over the Southern Pacific Ocean, away from the corridors and densely populated areas. USDV is expected to reach the laboratory in 2029.
Williams said: “Providing USDV capacity and using it is very important to ensure that the dangers of Deorbit widow meets the government public safety standards in force,” Williams said. “If there is Deorbit from ISS before delivery of USDV, the risks to the audience from the disintegration wreckage ISS will increase according to the size of the size.”
He said that NASA and Russian space officials are working “to face the challenges associated with achieving a safe Diorit ability, both for the end of life as well as the risk -running Deorbit for emergency situations.”
The main problem facing the International Space Station is what Williams called “a large ISS budget shortage”. NASA’s financial budget included 2024 $ 1 billion for stations and maintenance operations with another $ 1.6 billion to launch the crew and missions.
“It is important to maintain the budget and adequate resources in order to return the car safely, not only to ensure the safety of daily operations in a high -risk environment, but also to ensure the narrowing of control and secure within the requirements of the fingerprint for public safety,” Williams said.
In short, he said: “The committee appreciates the operational excellence of the ISS program, but it is still very anxious about the increasing and successive risks to attend the program during the next few years.”
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