What Thanksgiving dinner looks like for NASA astronauts in space
NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit shared their Thanksgiving meal in a new video message.
NASA astronauts living and working on the International Space Station (ISS) gave a glimpse into what Thanksgiving day will look like for them.
Commander Suni Williams and flight engineers Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit shared their Thanksgiving plans in a video shared to NASA’s X account on Wednesday.
“We have much to be thankful for.”
From the @Space_Station, our crew of @NASA_Astronauts share their #Thanksgiving greetings—and show off the menu for their holiday meal. pic.twitter.com/j8YUVy6Lzf
— NASA (@NASA) November 27, 2024
“Our crew up here just wanted to say happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on Earth and everyone who is supporting us,” Williams said.
The crew shared plans to enjoy a holiday meal together and showed a container of food which they said had smoked turkey, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, and apples and spices.
In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Williams said they also had plans to eat apple cobbler, green beans, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes.
“Our flight control teams gave us tomorrow off, so our plans are, as usual, get up and workout, do the Turkey trot, watch a little Macy’s [Thanksgivng] Day Parade, and we have a bunch of food that we packed away that is Thanksgiving-ish,” she said.
In 1973, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue became the first crew to celebrate Thanksgiving in space.
Skylab 4 astronauts Edward G. Gibson, left, William R. Pogue, and Gerald P. Carr demonstrate eating aboard Skylab during Thanksgiving in 1973.
According to NASA, Gibson and Pogue had to complete a 6-hour and 33-minute space walk, while Carr remained in the control center with no access to food.
Thursday marks the 176th day since Williams and Wilmore arrived on the ISS after conducting test pilots on Boeing’s Starliner space capsule.
The pair were originally supposed to be in space for eight to 10 days after arriving on June 6. However, their return kept getting delayed due to technical difficulties and safety concerns.
In August, NASA said Wilmore and Williams will be brought home in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in early 2025.
“Our mission control team and our management has always had an option for us to come home,” Williams told NBC News.
“So yeah, we came up here on Starliner. We’re coming back on a Dragon, but there’s always been a plan of how we would get home,” she added.
