Thanksgiving in orbit: ISS astronauts celebrate US holiday in space (PHOTOS)
Astronauts on board the International Space Station joined Americans around the world in celebrating Thanksgiving and, despite being in orbit 250 miles (400km) above Earth, the crew enjoyed a considerably traditional holiday.
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Six crew members from Expedition 50 tucked into an all-the-trimmings feast of turkey (albeit rehydrated), stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables.
The six Expedition 50 crew members celebrate Thanksgiving in space Nov. 24 with rehydrated turkey, stuffing, potatoes and vegetables. pic.twitter.com/60Ur6hA4zY
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 24, 2016
NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Shane Kimbrough were joined by Oleg Novitskiy, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency for their holiday meal.
Expedition 50 Commander Kimbrough promised in advance that he would try, as much as possible, to make the day just like home – and it appears he was true to his word.
He said in a video from the ISS that, although the astronauts wouldn’t have the day off, they would have a Thanksgiving dinner and watch American football.
The meal of pouched thermostabilized products was prepared at the Space Food Research Facility at Texas A&M University where more than 50 different food items have been created for astronauts since 2007.
One Twitter user pointed out the astronaut’s feast was probably closer to home standards than they thought.
@Space_Station@Woo_Debunker@roscosmos@NASA TBH, most turkey I've eaten tasted "rehydrated."
— Judith Sanders (@nazani14) November 24, 2016
Meanwhile, former ISS resident Scott Kelly was happy to be spending Thanksgiving on terra firma after spending a whole year in space.
Better than last year! #HappyThanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/yF0VaPGzld
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) November 24, 2016