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1 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
By CNN
Longtime NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who has ventured to space four times, is due to return to Earth soon from the International Space Station.
Pettit will turn 70 on Sunday (Monday in Australia).
The scientist invented the first object patented in space — called the Capillary Beverage, Space Cup or Zero-G cup, which makes it easier to drink beverages in the absence of gravity, and he is also a celebrated astrophotographer known for capturing unique views of the cosmos.
See his photos here.
Topics:
- Space
- Astronomy
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2 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
This January 13 photo from Pettit depicts an array of celestial sights, including the Milky Way, zodiacal light, orbiting Starlink satellites and stars that resemble pinpoints of light.
The burnt umber band showcases airglow – light from Earth's upper atmosphere – and Earth's atmosphere is seen on edge.
The sun is also about to rise, and city lights from Earth appear as streaks.
3 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
In October, Pettit and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick were stunned to see that the space station was flying through auroras.
"We were not flying above the aurora; we were flying in the aurora," Pettit posted on Instagram.
"And it was blood red. Caught off guard, we hastily set up our cameras, four of them, all snapping shutters as fast as they could, creating a syncopated rhythm that accented Nature's artistic display presented before us."
4 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Here, Pettit captures a perspective from the International Space Station as the orbiting laboratory flew through auroras on October 11.
5 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Space doesn't just appear dark to astronauts aboard the space station.
They can also see stars, Pettit said.
"I flew a homemade tracking device that allows time exposures required to photograph star fields," Pettit said in a post on Instagram
6 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Pettit's 30-second exposure image showcases an unexplained green cast over the Pacific Ocean.
7 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
An illustration depicts a Hycean world, or an exoplanet with a liquid water ocean beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, orbiting a red dwarf star.
8 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
A frame from a time-lapse video by Pettit shows thrusters firing on a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft after it undocked and backed away from the station's forward port on the Harmony module.
The orbital laboratory was soaring 416 kilometres above the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii at the time.
9 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
The Milky Way appears beyond Earth's horizon on February 3.
10 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Pettit witnesses SpaceX's uncrewed Starship 8 break apart in the upper atmosphere and fall back to Earth on March 6.
11 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Using a blank, white laptop display as the illuminator, a polarising filter and the space station's freezer, Pettit grew thin wafers of water ice in microgravity, revealing colorful, fragmented ice crystals.
The freezer sits at -60C.
12 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
Pettit's 30-second exposure image showcases an unexplained green cast over the Pacific Ocean.
13 of 15Attribution: Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource
The Mediterranean Sea can be seen from the International Space Station.
"Sun glint off the Mediterranean Sea (infrared and converted to black and white)," Pettit described in an October 15 post on Instagram.
"When the sun reflects off the ocean, watery details unseen with normal lighting shows up. Small centimeter differences in ocean height become visible, revealing hidden currents."
14 of 15Attribution: Instagram/@astro_pettit
"Self portrait in my orbital happy place," Pettit wrote on Instagram before his descent back to earth.
"Tomorrow I once again become an Earthling. What an adventure this mission has been."
15 of 15Attribution: Instagram/@astro_pettit
The view of Mount Everest from space, taken by Pettit's crew mate Butch Wilmore.
"The best photos from space of Everest I have seen," Pettit said.
