NASA's oldest full-time astronaut, back on Earth at 70, says space made him feel younger

NASA's oldest full-time astronaut, Don Pettit, expressed on Monday that experiencing weightlessness had made him feel decades younger, with the usual aches and pains he lived with seemingly vanishing. He had just marked his 70th birthday on April 20 by returning to Earth in a Russian Soyuz capsule after completing a seven-month mission at the International Space Station. In his first public comments following his return, Pettit admitted to having been overwhelmed upon landing, feeling the effects of gravity for the first time in 220 days. He described the return to Earth as a "significant challenge" for his body, mentioning that he didn't look or feel well immediately after touchdown. The familiar "creaks and groans" of his body returned, contrasting sharply with his experience in space.

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