Photo credit: www.nasa.gov
NASA astronaut Don Pettit is set to engage in limited interview opportunities starting at 10 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 16, to share insights regarding his forthcoming mission to the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled for September.
The interviews will be broadcast live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the official website of the agency. Media representatives can find instructions on how to stream content through multiple platforms, including social media outlets.
Journalists interested in participating must submit their requests by noon on Thursday, August 15, to NASA’s newsroom located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, by calling 281-483-5111 or emailing jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
Pettit will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. This crew is set to spend approximately six months aboard the ISS, with plans to return to Earth in the spring of 2025.
Throughout his mission, Pettit will engage in various scientific experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at enhancing crew preparedness for future space endeavors while also delivering benefits back on Earth. His engagement will include studying the effects of spaceflight on blood clotting, furthering research on producing human stem cells in a microgravity environment, and employing his photography expertise for the long-running Crew Earth Observations project — capturing insights into how our planet evolves over time.
Having been selected as an astronaut in 1996, Pettit is no stranger to space travel. He has successfully completed three missions, each contributing to significant advancements in both technology and human space exploration. His experience includes serving as a science officer for Expedition 6 in 2003, operating the robotic arm on the STS-126 space shuttle Endeavour in 2008, and acting as a flight engineer for Expeditions 30 and 31 in 2012. Over his career, he has accumulated 370 days in space and completed two spacewalks, totaling more than 13 hours outside the spacecraft.
Pettit hails from Silverton, Oregon, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University, Corvallis, followed by a doctorate in the same field from the University of Arizona, Tucson. Before joining NASA, he was a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
For over twenty years, astronauts have been living and working aboard the ISS, producing significant scientific findings and achieving breakthroughs that cannot occur on Earth. The ISS serves as a vital testing ground for NASA, helping to address the challenges tied to long-duration space travel while also facilitating the growth of commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As private companies expand their capabilities for human space transportation and develop new destinations, NASA is strategically redirecting resources toward ambitious deep space missions targeting the Moon and Mars.
For the latest updates, images, and features related to the ISS, follow the station’s blog, as well as its pages on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Further information about ISS research and operations can be found at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Source
www.nasa.gov