Astronauts celebrate the New Year at the International Space Station

 31 December 2020

Dinner with black caviar, juices from exotic fruits, a Christmas tree on the ceiling and a complete absence of champagne - this is how it is customary to celebrate the New Year at the International Space Station, Acting Pilot-Cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko, who has visited the ISS more than once, told the newspaper VZGLYAD.

Due to the fact that the launch of the Progress MS-16 spacecraft was postponed, the Russian cosmonauts on the ISS will not be able to receive gifts from families and friends on New Year's Eve. Despite thат, they have still prepared surprise gifts for  their international colleagues. “It is customary on the ISS to celebrate the New Year in the same way as on Earth. That is, with some kind of a gala dinner all crews together. 

"The tradition is that for Christmas, the US crew invites the Russian crew members over, and for New Year's we invite all our colleagues to visit us, to the Russian segment, ”says Borisenko.

“Russian crew members spend a lot of time with their international colleagues even while training on Earth, they know each other well, and, as a rule, we all know about each other's families. That is, very close relationships are established with the colleagues, therefore, naturally, everyone gets acquainted with the traditions and holidays of each other's culture.”

"Instead of champagne, we use our favorite drinks which are different for everyone. Someone drinks fruit juices, someone tea or coffee, and someone lemonade without gas. By the way, carbonated drinks are not available at the station, because in zero gravity they cannot be drunk - they turn into a gas-liquid mixture, like foam from a fire extinguisher, ”Borisenko shared.

Photos: NASA.gov and Roskosmos.ru

Text: Tatiana Kolpakova

Source: www.vz.ru