Donald Pettit | |
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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 | 439 days, 4 hours, 15 minutes (currently in space) |
Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
Total EVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 13 hours and 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 Coffee Cup, which received the first ever patent for an object invented in space.[1] He is a veteran of two long-duration stays aboard the International Space Station (with a third stay currently underway), one Space Shuttle mission and a six-week expedition to find meteorites in Antarctica. As of 2024, at age 69, he is NASA's oldest active astronaut.