Thanksgiving in space has always been celebrated mainly because of the constant presence of American astronauts. This year, two American astronauts are on board the International Space Station (ISS) together with three Russian cosmonauts and one French astronaut.
Space Station Commander Shane Kimbrough and fellow U.S astronaut Peggy Whitson will be sharing the celebration of the holiday with the others by preparing Thanksgiving meals space-style.
Before that, they will have to work first all day and do some routines in the ISS. "We're going to work all day, and then we're going to have an evening big dinner full of most of the things you're going to have at your table," Kimbrough said in the video recently released for the people celebrating Thanksgiving in Earth. (You can watch that video below.)
Celebration of Thanksgiving in space has been a tradition since 1973, according to Time. In that time, food scientists kept on coming up new food that will provide satisfaction for the astronauts and safety for the equipment in space.
The astronauts celebrating Thanksgiving this year will get to enjoy sliced smoked turkey, candid yams, cherry and blue berry cobbler in their prepackaged pouches. Unlike the past years when food are eaten cold because it is freeze-dried, they will get to enjoy warm meals by heating the pouches in an oven.
They will also have freeze-dried or dehydrated cornbread dressing, green beans, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes which must be added with water. Unlike many Americans celebrating Thanksgiving, astronauts are not allowed to drink alcohol in the ISS, according to Space. But they can enjoy pouches of sweet tea. "I'm from Atlanta, so I can't have Thanksgiving dinner without having some sweet tea," Kimbrough said.
"It's going to be a little bit different for us up here in space but I'm going to try to make it as much like home as we can."
To complete the Thanksgiving experience, Mission Control will send live transmission of football games for the team.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
