Indian-American Astronaut Sunita Williams Observes Thanksgiving Aboard the International Space Station

November 30 :
Sunita Williams, an Indian-American astronaut with NASA, joined her colleagues Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Aleksandr Gorbunov in celebrating Thanksgiving while aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Williams used a video message that NASA released to wish "Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family who are down on Earth and everyone who is supporting us." Smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, mushrooms in green beans, butternut squash, apples, and apple cobbler were all part of the astronauts' celebratory dinner. During their festivities, they also enjoyed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Williams has spent eight months in orbit since he and Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station in June onboard Boeing's Starliner spaceship. The spacecraft is no longer suitable for human travel due to technical concerns. In February of 2025, she will presumably make her way back to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Williams shared that she is "feeling good, working out, and eating right," despite some weight loss, while NASA confirmed the crew's safety amid fears over the extended trip. Williams is only second to Neil Armstrong among female astronauts in terms of total spacewalk time, at 322 days. She joined in the festivities of Diwali earlier this month, too, even though she was 260 miles above the ground.