NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Soyuz MS-26 Launch

NASA astronaut Don Pettit is set to lift off on his fourth mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Live NASA coverage begins at 11:15 a.m. EDT (1555 UTC) for a 12:23 p.m. (1623 UTC) launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Pettit’s first trip to the orbiting laboratory was in 2002, where he served as the NASA Science Officer aboard the station as part of Expedition 6. Pettit later traveled to the station aboard space shuttle Endeavour on STS-126, and most recently went to space in 2011. Pettit has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona. Pettit will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, accompanied by cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, where they will spend six months on the International Space Station before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025. Learn more about the mission and its timeline: Get the latest mission updates: