International Space Station astronauts hang stockings and light a menorah for the holidays (images, video)

The team of the spaceport station commemorated a multidenominational Christmas this year, hanging stockings for Santa along with a menorah “lit” with quite felt flames.

The menorah was brought aboard the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and decorated with a felt flame each night when Hanukkah, the Jewish celebration, ran previously this December. Felt was selected as a product for the menorah due to easy to understand limitations worrying lighting fires on spacecraft and spaceport station.

“My other half and little women assisted make a felt menorah, with lights for each night, that I can pin on to commemorate with them. I’m delighted to do that,” Moghbeli, the 2nd Iranian-American to reach area, stated throughout a press conference in July, as Space.com formerly reported.

The NASA astronaut included that throughout the joyful season here on Earthher household commemorates both Hanukkah and Christmas, simply as she had the ability to carry out in orbit this year.

Related: NASA astronaut will commemorate Hanukkah in area with felt menorah

Moghbeli, who likewise commemorated Hanukkah in area by spinning a dreidel previously in December, sent out season’s greetings from the ISS to everybody back home in the world, plainly missing out on commemorating the vacations with household.

“Merry Christmas from the spaceport station,” the NASA astronaut and ISS flight engineer composed on her X feedpreviously Twitter.

“While I particularly miss my pals and household back home this time of year, I would not trade the special memories I’m making with my area household. We have actually discovered little methods to make the vacations seem like the vacations up here. Later on today, we will all share a vacation meal and embellish cookies together.”

Moghbeli commemorated the vacations with the remainder of the Expedition 70 group presently inhabiting the ISS, consisting of leader Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agencyflight engineers Satoshi Furukawa (Japan) and Loral O’Hara (NASA), and Roscosmos or Russian flight engineers Konstantin Borisov, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub.

The astronauts took Christmas Day off to open presents and delight in a Christmas supper, following a hectic week that saw 2 freight spacecraft leave the ISS (SpaceX Dragon and Northrop Grumman Cygnus. The team viewed the 1989 slapstick funny “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, and O’Hara commemorated the arrival of her nephew, the NASA astronaut published on X

The Christmas stockings selected by the existing ISS team might not have actually been rather as joyful as those awaited homes throughout Earth over Christmas 2023, taking the type of grey and black thermal socks.

The team had the ability to include a little joyful cheer to these a little dull thermal sock stockings by wearing Santa hats that stand directly, thanks to the microgravity experienced by the ISS in low Earth orbit approximately 250 miles (400 kilometers) about our world.

The Expedition 70 team travelled to the ISS aboard a Soyuz spacecraft (MS-23) on Sept. 27, and is set to go back to Earth in spring 2024. Exploration 70 leader Mogensen likewise sent out Christmas greetings home ahead of his go back to terra firma.

“As we orbit high above Earth, I wish to send out warm desires to all of you down on Earth on this big day. Whether you’re commemorating Christmas or just delighting in the joyful spirit, might this unique time bring you pleasure with your friends and family,” he composed on X

Robert Lea is a science reporter in the U.K. whose short articles have actually been released in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He likewise blogs about science interaction for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University. Follow him on Twitter @sciencef1rst.