NASA lately shared a festive replace on the astronauts stranded aboard the Worldwide Area Station, showcasing Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore wearing Santa hats and different holiday-themed equipment. After celebrating Thanksgiving in house with their colleagues, the duo is now making ready a grand Christmas and New 12 months’s menu to get pleasure from away from house throughout the vacation season.
Initially deliberate as an eight-day mission, Williams and Wilmore’s journey has confronted quite a few delays and setbacks, extending their keep in house to just about a 12 months, with their revised rescue mission now scheduled for Spring 2025. These extended challenges have turned updates concerning the astronauts’ lives into scorching subjects on-line, usually fueling heated debates and conspiracy theories, together with earlier considerations about important weight reduction.
“Did they take Santa hats with them earlier than they launched,” a consumer commented on-line. “Or did they knit them whereas they’re there?” One other individual, enraged with doubt, added, “Fortunately, they’d the foresight to deliver Christmas decorations with them.”
To everybody on Earth, Merry Christmas from our @NASA_Astronauts aboard the Worldwide @Space_Station. pic.twitter.com/GoOZjXJYLP
— NASA (@NASA) December 23, 2024
“She seems to be like a starved skeleton, are they testing how lengthy it takes to dye if the availability ships from earth cease coming,” wrote a consumer.
One other consumer claimed the astronauts had been truly in a movie studio as an alternative of being in house. “LMAO they’ve the Christmas gear trigger its all filmed on the Olympic pool at NASA HQ,” wrote an one other particular person.
What Did NASA Say?
NASA confirmed to the New York Submit that the Santa hats, together with different festive decorations, particular items for the ISS crew, and their Christmas meals, had been included in a three-ton SpaceX cargo delivered in late November. The Worldwide Area Station receives provide deliveries a number of occasions a 12 months.
This explicit cargo featured conventional vacation meals reminiscent of ham, turkey, potatoes, greens, pies, and cookies, along with mission-specific and scientific gear. NASA additionally utilized some additional house to ship festive objects, together with the Santa hats and a small Christmas tree, to deliver vacation cheer to the astronauts.
