Despite being stranded thousands of miles from Earth NASA Astronaut Sunita “Sunny” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore Riders are embracing the holiday spirit. International Space Station (ISS).
In one Post Shared by NASA But InstagramWilliams, along with fellow astronaut Don Pettit, donned red Santa hats for a cheery photo.
A Dec. 16 snapshot of Williams and Pettit beaming while talking on a ham radio in the ISS’s Columbus Laboratory Module is captioned “Another day, another slog.” “Don Pettit and Sunny Williams, flight engineer and commander of Expedition 72, pose for a fun holiday photo.”
The festive photo sparked curiosity among followers about the unexpected holiday outfit.
“Where did the Santa hats come from if they’ve been stuck there for months and only intended for a short trip?” One commenter asked, “Seems to be an oddly unnecessary thing to keep on hand…”
Another added, “Eight day mission took Santa hats.”
“Where do the hats come from??? You were gone for a planned 8 days in Summer!!!! Why do you have Christmas hats????” someone else scoffed.
Williams and Wilmore left Earth on June 5 on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission to test it. spaceship – But After suffering problems before and during its launch, the Starliner ran further afield on its way to the space station, and did not return until nearly eight months later..
Others on Instagram pointed out that there were reasonable explanations for the festive headdress.
“You all realize there are other people on the ISS and there are space agencies that send supplies to the ISS,” one user wrote, while another added: “People How come they don’t know there’s a resupply mission and they have this problem over there.”
The astronauts boarded the ISS just before Thanksgiving in November. Although Williams and Wilmore couldn’t be with their families for the holiday, they made the most of their celebration in orbit.
During an interview with NBC Nightly News On November 27, Williams revealed that he, Pettitte, astronaut Nick Hague, and three Russian cosmonauts joined the pair for a holiday dinner.
“We have a bunch of food that we’ve packed up since Thanksgiving,” she said. “Some smoked turkey, some cranberries, apple cobbler, green beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes.”
While the astronauts were expected to return to Earth in February 2025, NASA recently announced further delays.. Their transition to the ISS won’t begin until March or April, pushing back their return date once again.
Despite the unexpected extension, Williams assured concerned followers that he was doing well. “We’re feeling good, exercising, eating right,” she said earlier this year. “We’ve had a lot of fun here, too. So, you know, people worry about us. Really, don’t worry about us.”