Donald Pettit

Donald Pettit might be my favorite kind of overachiever. Born in Silverton, Oregon, a University of Arizona chemist and engineer turned astronaut, he refuses to be merely brilliant. He invented the Space Cup, the first object ever patented in orbit, and shoots breathtaking astrophotography from the station, treating microgravity as both a lab and a canvas. The fact that he was an Eagle Scout fits perfectly with that steady, curious temperament. NASA can hang all the service medals it likes, but what wins me over is the playful inventiveness, the man who turned figuring out how to drink coffee in space into real engineering. He swapped stargazing for looking back down.

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Name (English)

Donald Pettit

Name (Japanese)

ドナルド・ペティ

Reading

どなるど・ぺてぃ

Born

April 20, 1955 (age 71)

Origin

Silverton, Oregon, United States

Occupation

astronaut / chemist / engineer

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Goat

High school

Silverton High School

University

University of Arizona

Awards & achievements

• 2010 NASA Exceptional Service Medal
• 2012 NASA Space Flight Medal
• 2003 NASA Distinguished Service Medal
• Eagle Scout
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/astro_pettit/
• Xhttps://x.com/astro_Pettit
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald%20Pettit
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%89%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9A%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q363250

Tags

• Oregon
• astronaut
• chemist
• engineer

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.