Nasa astronauts celebrate Thanksgiving in space

The ISS crew will have a Thanksgiving meal in space

High above the Earth astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS) are enjoying a special day off for Thanksgiving.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is a holiday when people give thanks - often by sharing a big meal with family or friends, eating foods like turkey.

It's a time for remembering things to be grateful for and being together with loved ones. It takes place on the fourth Thursday in November.

Although away from their families the ISS crew - including Americans, Russians and Japanese - are able to share a meal and celebrate the holiday.

Senior astronaut, Mike Fincke, said in a video message from the ISS, "This is my second Thanksgiving in space, so I highly recommend it."

To help make the celebration possible, Nasa sent up a "Holiday Bulk Overwrapped Bag," or BOB, on a supply mission to the space station.

The special bag contained tasty treats such as clams, oysters, crab meat, quail and smoked salmon.

Another astronaut, Zena Cardman, explained that the crew will also have more traditional Thanksgiving foods like turkey and mashed potatoes.

She said that the space-kitchen team "have taken such great care of us," making sure everything is packaged in a way that won't cause a mess in microgravity - the state of weightlessness on the ISS, which makes everything float around.

Food on the ISS isn't like food at home. Because there's no proper kitchen or fridge, nearly all meals are prepared on Earth and packaged so they are safe and tidy in space. That means foods are freeze-dried or 'thermostabilised' - treated so they don't decay.

"We've even got some lobster, which is amazing. So I think it's going to be a really, really delicious meal," said Cardman

When the astronauts want to eat, they either add water to re-hydrate freeze-dried meals, or heat the thermostabilized meals. Their trays and food packets are designed with velcro, scissors, and even magnets or straps so floating food doesn't drift away.

The crew welcomed three more onto the space station in time for Thanksgiving dinner, after their Russian spacecraft Soyuz docked with the ISS on Thursday

In the video call back to Earth, Fincke held up a can of cranberry sauce, which was sent from the Russian space agency.

"It's kind of neat to have that up here because that's one of my favourite parts," he said. "I'm going to miss my family, of course. But I'm up here with my space family and it's really awesome."

Cardman and Fincke, along with fellow Nasa astronaut Jonny Kim, will share their holiday meal with three Russian cosmonauts and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui.

"We don't have Thanksgiving in Japan, but here, on ISS, everybody respects each other's culture," said Yui, who added that he was looking forward to the dinner.

The crew was able to welcome some more guests in time for dinner on Thursday afternoon, as a Russian Soyuz spacecraft brought three new crew members to the space station.