The Best Photos Taken by Astronaut Don Pettit on His Most Recent Space Mission
Real Hacker Staff
Two of Pettit’s best photos he took during Expedition 72.
Don Pettit touched back down on Earth on Saturday — the day of his 70th birthday — after spending the last six months living in the International Space Station (ISS). Pettit is one of the most accomplished photographers to ever visit space and captured some special shots during Expedition 72.
Pettit is NASA’s oldest-serving astronaut and is famous for creating the Zero-G coffee cup which allows astronauts to drink a cup of joe, it received the first-ever patent for an invention in space.
Pettit being carried to a medical tent after landing in Kazakhstan on Saturday. | Bill Ingalls/NASA
But Pettit is probably better-known for his photography skills and regular readers will be aware of his talent. In an interview with PetaPixel before blasting off for Expedition 72, Pettit explained that he has been a keen photographer since he was a young boy.
During his recent stay on the ISS, Pettit captured many wondrous, scientific, and gorgeous photos. Here are some highlights.
A long exposure photo of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two small galaxies that orbit the Milky Way Galaxy. The Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud are some 200,000 light-years away but orbit the Milky Way Galaxy, home to Earth’s solar system. To capture the images, Pettit brought a homemade tracking system that allows him to take long-exposure photographs.Pettit captured this star trail photo showing airglow, Starlink satellites, and modules of the ISS on December 3. He called the photos a “blend of both science and art.”Pettit shared this photo of a brilliant aurora on New Year’s Day.In this photo the Milky Way, Starlink satellites, and zodiacal light are visible. Taken on January 11 from the SpaceX Dragon Crew 9 vehicle port window.The Andromeda Galaxy above atmospheric airglow and red and green aurora close to the rising Sun and streaking city lights.Pettit captured this image of “Thai Aurora”. Fishing boats off the coast of Thailand use green lights to lure their catch.Pettit recreated his famous 2012 Lightning Bugs photo in this picture from March. This image is roughly a 30-minute exposure assembled from “multiple 30-second exposures.”The ISS soars above Lake Michigan.A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft fires its thrusters as it undocks from the ISS.Lightning dramatically lights up the clouds over the Pacific Ocean in November.
Pettit spent 220 days on board the ISS – orbiting the Earth 3,520 times. He touched down on Satuday along with Russian crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and will now spend time readjusting to gravity before being flown back to Houston, Texas.
