Donald Pettit

Donald Pettit
Pettit in 2002
Born	Donald Roy Pettit (1955-04-20) April 20, 1955 (age 69) Silverton, Oregon, U.S.
Education	Oregon State University (BS) University of Arizona (MS, PhD)
Space career
NASA astronaut
Time in space	369d 16h 41m
Selection	NASA Group 16 (1996)
Total EVAs	2
Total EVA time	13h 17m
Missions	STS-113 Expedition 6 Soyuz TMA-1 STS-126 Soyuz TMA-03M (Expedition 30/31) Soyuz MS-26 (Expedition 71/72)
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 microgravity 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, 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.