NASA astronauts are gearing up for weightless Thanksgiving celebrations in area. A family-focussed vacation that normally calls for large home gatherings, even when to take pleasure in soccer marathons and parades on TV, can have Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore comply with an analogous sample, however in numerous methods. The unique Boeing Starliner duo has been residing and dealing onboard the International Space Station for practically six months since their early June takeoff. Yet, they nonetheless don’t understand themselves to be caught within the “stranded” standing. The Indian-origin area hero beforehand even described area as her “completely satisfied” place regardless of the long-duration interstellar exile.
As Williams will likely be busy breaking bread and exchanging vacation traditions along with her crew members this 12 months, she supplied a sneak peek into their day crammed with celebrations.
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Sunita Williams’ Thanksgiving meal
Earlier this month, Williams shut down regarding weight reduction rumours and speculations surrounding the alleged scarcity of meals as a result of their mission’s unprecedented extension. She not directly doubled down on the identical sentiment in her Wednesday, November 27, interview with NBC News: “We have a bunch of meals that we’ve packed away that’s Thanksgiving-ish.” As per her proclamation, these aboard the ISS will likely be handled to “some smoked turkey, some cranberry, apple cobbler, inexperienced beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes.”
Williams confessed that, like one’s on-Earth plans for the day, she may also be tuning in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade earlier than feasting along with her colleague Wilmore and SpaceX Crew-9 members Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov (with whom they’re scheduled to disembark for Earth, not earlier than February 2025), amongst others.
Sunita Williams reassures that there is nothing to fret about
Despite the dramatic setbacks confronted by their beleaguered Starliner capsule, together with thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, the 59-year-old astronaut stood her floor about not being stranded. “Our mission management crew and our administration has all the time had an choice for us to come back house,” she mentioned. “So yeah, we got here up right here on Starliner. We’re coming again on a Dragon, however there’s all the time been a plan of how we might get house.”
Adding to her earlier reassuring claims about being in good well being, Williams admitted, “We’re feeling good, understanding, consuming proper.”
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Contrary to the dismayed headlines surrounding the protection of Williams and Wilmore’s monthslong area voyage right here on Earth, the previous acknowledged that persons are “anxious” about them. Nevertheless, she handed on the message: “Really, don’t fear about us.”
NASA’s official updates for an area Thanksgiving
On Wednesday, NASA detailed the historical past of Thanksgiving in area, noting that the 2024 version of the festivities will mark “the third time” astronauts Barry “Butch” E Wilmore and Donald R Pettit have a good time the vacation up there. According to the official launch, Pettit and his fellow STS-126 members, alongside the Expedition 18 crew, dined on an analogous feast of “smoked turkey, candied yams, inexperienced beans and mushrooms, cornbread dressing and a cranapple dessert,” as Williams’ description.
The US area company’s official social media platforms additionally launched a Thanksgiving message video from Space Station astronauts, Suni Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit. A quick synopsis of the quartet’s long-duration mission revealed that they’re “residing and dealing aboard the microgravity laboratory. The purpose of their mission is to advance scientific information and display new applied sciences for future human and robotic exploration missions as a part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration method, together with lunar missions by NASA’s Artemis program.”