Donald Pettit
Donald Pettit | |
|---|---|
Pettit in 2024 | |
| Born | Donald Roy Pettit April 20, 1955 Silverton, Oregon, U.S. |
| Education | Oregon State University (BS) University of Arizona (MS, PhD) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 590 days, 1 hour, 38 minutes |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
Total EVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 13 hours, 17 minutes |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemical engineering |
| Thesis | Coherent Detection of Scattered Light by Submicrometer Aerosols (1983) |
| Doctoral advisor | Thomas Peterson |
Donald Roy Pettit (born April 20, 1955) is an American astronaut and chemical engineer best known for his orbital astrophotography and in-space inventions such as the Zero G Cup, which received the first ever patent for an object invented in space. He is a veteran of three long-duration stays aboard the International Space Station, one Space Shuttle mission, and a six-week expedition to find meteorites in Antarctica. As of 2025, at age 70, he is NASA's oldest active astronaut and the third oldest person to reach orbit, behind John Glenn and Larry Connor. He has accumulated 590 days in space, behind only Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams.