For over two and a half decades, astronauts have been celebrating the holiday season aboard the International Space Station. From Christmas to Hanukkah, the crew members have found unique ways to mark these special occasions while living and working in space.
The tradition of celebrating holidays in space began with Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders in December 1968. They were the first crew to spend Christmas in space and left Earth orbit on this historic mission. The crew shared a joint meal and spent time enjoying the view of Earth from space.
In recent years, NASA has continued this tradition with crews like Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson, and William Pogue, who celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s in 1973. They even built a homemade tree using leftover food containers and used colored decals as decorations.
More recently, the STS-103 crew celebrated the first space shuttle Christmas aboard Discovery in 1999. The crew enjoyed duck foie gras on Mexican tortillas, cassoulet, and salted pork with lentils while completing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope during a spacewalk on December 24, 1999.
The tradition of celebrating holidays in space has been continued by the current Expedition 72 crew, who are spending time enjoying the view of Earth from the space station, privately communicating with their families, and sharing a joint meal. They also read a goodwill message to those back on Earth as part of a new tradition.
In recent years, the International Space Station has become a convergence point for celebrating holidays in space. The crew members have found creative ways to mark special occasions, such as astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli’s family making a felt menorah for her to celebrate Hanukkah. Since astronauts can’t light real candles aboard the space station, Moghbeli pinned felt “lights” for each night of the eight-day holiday.
The International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and human exploration of Mars. As the agency continues to support missions to and from the station, crew members will continue to celebrate the holidays in space.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/general/celebrating-the-holiday-season-in-space-2