On a recent trip to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Don Pettit drank unflavored gelatin instead of bringing coffee or other beverages in his assigned “personal drink bag” for the stay. I asked for a few bags.
This was not for cooking purposes, but for conducting scientific experiments. How many people would give up coffee for science?
Well, Donald Roy Pettit is not like most of us.
Pettit, 69, is NASA’s oldest active astronaut and began his third extended mission aboard the space station last month. A lifelong tinkerer and gifted science communicator, he has already achieved extraordinary results there. We’ll talk about his current activities in a moment. But to understand who we’re dealing with, here’s what you need to know about Pettit: He was insatiably curious and passionate about sharing the wonders of science and the natural world with others. It means you’re thinking about it.
Here’s just one small example. During his last six months in orbit, from late 2011 to mid-2012, Pettit had some Lego blocks that he used for student demonstrations. After the last experiment, he asked if he could use Lego in a science experiment. He converted them into belt-and-roller van de Graaff generators, creating groundbreaking research in electrical fluids. This study was published with physical review letter After Pettit returns to Earth. Most of us probably can’t even spell Van de Graaf generator, but this guy builds one out of toys in space.
Pettit, a chemical engineer by training, explains that he has “programmatic” scientific research he does for NASA, and everything else he does in his limited free time. This means that it is often carried out inside.
“It has been carefully planned, well thought out, peer reviewed and uplinked to the station with the necessary supplies.” He said this about program research.. “And then there’s what I call the science of opportunity, which is the science that comes to mind while you’re there. You can do it simply because you’re there, and you can do it because you can. The scientific fields I have dabbled in include fluid physics, classical physics, chemistry, biology, plant growth, and Earth observation on the International Space Station.
Water ice wafer.
Credit: Don Pettit/NASA
