This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like for NASA astronauts in space
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This is what Thanksgiving dinner looks like for NASA astronauts in space

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

  • NASA astronauts on the ISS share Thanksgiving plans in video on X
  • Suni Williams and Buth Wilmore’s return to Earth was recently pushed back to 2025.
  • NASA plans to bring them back on the SpaceX Crew Dragon in early 2025.

NASA astronauts who live and work on the International Space Station (ISS) shared a glimpse of what Thanksgiving Day will be like for them.

Commander Suni Williams and flight engineers Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore and Don Pettit shared their Thanksgiving plans in a video shared to NASA’s X account on Wednesday.

“Our crew up here wanted to say a Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family on Earth and everyone who supports us,” Williams said.

The crew shared their plans for a holiday meal together, showing off a container of food that reportedly included smoked turkey, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, and apples and spices.

In an interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Williams said they also planned to eat applesauce, green beans, mushrooms and mashed potatoes.

“Our flight control crews gave us tomorrow off, so our plans are, as always, to get up and exercise, do the turkey trot, watch a little Macy’s (Thanksgivng) Day Parade and we have a lot of food that we packed .” is Thanksgiving-like,” she said.

In 1973, Skylab 4 astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Edward G. Gibson and William R. Pogue became the first crew to celebrate Thanksgiving in space.


Skylab 4 astronauts Edward G. Gibson (left), William R. Pogue and Gerald P. Carr demonstrate food aboard Skylab during Thanksgiving 1973.

Skylab 4 astronauts Edward G. Gibson (left), William R. Pogue and Gerald P. Carr demonstrate food aboard Skylab during Thanksgiving 1973.

NASA



According to NASA, Gibson and Pogue had to complete a 6-hour, 33-minute spacewalk while Carr remained in the control center and had no access to food.

Thursday marks the 176th day since Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS after conducting test pilots on Boeing’s Starliner space capsule.

The pair were originally scheduled to stay in space for eight to 10 days after their arrival on June 6th. However, their return was repeatedly delayed due to technical difficulties and security concerns.

In August, NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams would be brought home in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in early 2025.

“Our mission control team and management always had the option to return home,” Williams told NBC News.

“So yeah, we came here on the Starliner. We come back with a kite, but there was always a plan how we would get home,” she added.