ISS astronauts celebrated Thanksgiving aboard the space station

By Shane McGlaun/

Thanksgiving 2020 was as much of a mess for most people as the majority of the year has been. Many were unable to visit family due to social distancing. Astronauts aboard the ISS were about as socially distanced from their families as you can get, but they still celebrated Thanksgiving. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins talked about what the astronauts did aboard the ISS as it orbited the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour.

She noted that her and the three other NASA astronauts were excited to celebrate the holiday in space with their international crewmembers. To the astronauts aboard the station are from Russia, and another is from Japan. American astronauts currently aboard the station include Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker. Rubins noted they would enjoy each other's company and that the astronauts would speak to family members on the phone.

Glover noted that the astronauts plan to have cornbread dressing, with the caveat that their stuffing came and paste form. The astronauts also got to have turkey and other traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Walker was most excited about the astronauts getting to stream a football game aboard the ISS.

The astronauts from other countries where Thanksgiving isn't typically celebrated also shared some special foods. Japanese astronaut Noguchi intended to share curry rice, red beans and rice, and seafood prepared by high school students from Japan. There's no word if the Russian astronauts added anything to the Thanksgiving celebration.

The crew aboard the ISS currently numbers seven, and most will be on the space station for six months as the crew works on maintenance and research. Six months seems like a long time to eat most of your food as a paste. We can't help but wonder how good turkey paste would taste.

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