Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit wish a merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to Earth in a message recorded on Dec. 23, 2024. The four astronauts are in the middle of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory.
The goal of their mission is to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
Of the four, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were only supposed to be on the station for a week, but a leaky thruster system on the Boeing Starliner capsule (their original ride home) had other ideas, and had to be sent home without its human crew. The pair won’t be able to return to Earth until February, when a SpaceX Dragon will be ferrying them back to planet surface along with two other crewmembers. The International Space Station normally carries a crew compliment of six.
Wilmore credits his faith with keeping him resilient, and Williams described space as her “happy place.”
Despite their unfortunate situation, the crew of the I.S.S. still keeps Christmas in their own way, and offers us Christmas wishes from space.
From all of us at SCIFI.radio, we offer our best wishes for the season as well. Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Happy Kwaanza, and may whatever holiday you observe be the best one ever.
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Not all that many decades ago, this would have been an unbelievable joke. There would be no way NASA astronauts would be wearing Santa hat and a, er, very different hairdo. Certainly not in an official NASA video! It’s amazing how things have changed.
I’m sorry some of the astronauts got stuck there. But I’m very glad they have a place to live.
Well, Gemini VI astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra did “Jingle Bells.” That was back in 1965.