1. Donald Roy Pettit was born on April 20,1955 and 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.
Donald Pettit 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.
Donald Pettit has accumulated 590 days in space, behind only Peggy Whitson and Suni Williams.
Donald Pettit then did graduate study in chemical engineering at the University of Arizona, receiving a Ph.
Donald Pettit worked as a scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1984 until 1996, when NASA selected him as an astronaut candidate.
Donald Pettit was a junior advisor to the Synthesis Committee of the Space Exploration Initiative on its May 1991 report "America at the Threshold", recommending plans for a human mission to Mars.
An astrophotographer, Donald Pettit has captured thousands of unique star trails and photographic data sets, which he regularly shares online.
Donald Pettit was not initially scheduled for a spacewalk but stepped in for Nikolai Budarin, who was removed from the task days before due to a medical issue.
Donald Pettit was a mission specialist on the STS-126 a short-duration mission on Space Shuttle Endeavour to deliver equipment and supplies to the ISS.
On May 25,2012, Donald Pettit operated the Canadarm2 to grapple the first SpaceX Dragon 1 and berth it to the Harmony module.
On September 11,2024, Donald Pettit launched aboard Soyuz MS-26 alongside Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.
Donald Pettit conducted scientific investigations on behalf of NASA, including studies on water purification technology, plant growth in microgravity, and fire behavior in space.
Donald Pettit continued to share his astrophotography work, to acclaim on social media.
NASA said after the landing that Donald Pettit was doing well and was flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for normal post-flight evaluation and rehabilitation.
In November 2008, Donald Pettit invented the zero-g coffee cup, which used the wetting angle to carry fluid along a crease to permit drinking and avoid the necessity of a straw.
From November 2006 through January 2007, Donald Pettit joined the Antarctic Search for Meteorites, spending six weeks in the Antarctic summer collecting meteorite samples, including a lunar meteorite.
Donald Pettit estimated Antarctic glacial ice to contain roughly 1 micrometeorite per liter.