Thanksgiving was a multicultural event on the International Space Station this year. While only two people in the crew currently aboard the ISS are American, a traditional American meal was in place to celebrate the occasion. The astronauts also watched football in order to complete this experience.
The astronauts did not have the day off, unlike most Americans, but the American turkey dinner in space was similar to the one back home.
Thanksgiving On The ISS
During the last few years, NASA astronauts have had a day off, as the habit dictates for U.S. citizens. However, this year the international crew worked, as only two of the six crew are American citizens. Commander Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson are the ones who engaged the rest of the crew, explaining the American tradition over cornbread dressing and cherry blueberry cobbler.
Aside from the two American citizens, the team is composed of Andrey Borisenko, Sergey Ryzhikov and Oleg Novitskiy from Russia, and Thomas Pesquet, a French citizen.
"We're obviously going to be talking about what Thanksgiving means to us, what we're thankful for, and sharing the tradition with our French and Russian colleagues," noted Kimbrough in a video.
Before the dinner, however, the crew had to work all day. Kimbrough installed a new centrifuge in the Cell Biology Experiment Facility, and Whitson worked with Ryzhikov at an ultrasound operation for baseline scans as part of the Fluid Shifts study.
Living On The ISS
The question of the crew living on the International Space Station has popped in people's minds more than once. Clayton C. Anderson, a NASA astronaut who described himself as a person who "lived and laughed in space for quite a while" explained on Quora how being on the ISS is an experience that transcends the barriers of inhabiting a place.
"People don't 'live' on the International Space Station. They live and work on the ISS. Today, the home in space I helped build in 2007 and 2010, has become an international laboratory, one whose discoveries may help to change the face of our planet Earth," noted Anderson on his Quora response.
While descriptive, his answer addressed the bigger issue, one that is essentially about the NASA funding system and the association's requirements for constant and consistent funds.
Quora is a platform where people go to post questions with regard to serious matters that concern them, covering a wide series of topics.
