NASA astronauts celebrate Thanksgiving with Russian cranberry sauce

""Our ground teams and the food lab at NASA have taken such great care of us," said Zena Cardman, who noted that they'll also have traditional fare like turkey and mashed potatoes, all packaged up in ways that won't cause a mess in microgravity. "We've even got some lobster, which is amazing. So I think it's going to be a really, really delicious meal.""

""We've even got some lobster, which is amazing. So I think it's going to be a really, really delicious meal." Fincke displayed a can of cranberry sauce, which happened to come from the Russian space agency. "It's kind of neat to have that up here because that's one of my favorite 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. And if all goes as planned, more guests will arrive in time for the meal,"

About 250 miles above Earth, astronauts aboard the International Space Station will take an off-duty day for Thanksgiving and share a communal celebratory meal. NASA included a Holiday Bulk Overwrapped Bag on a resupply mission carrying festive items such as clams, oysters, crab meat, quail, smoked salmon, and lobster. The station food lab prepared traditional fare like turkey and mashed potatoes in packaging designed to prevent microgravity messes. Participating crew members include NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, Jonny Kim, three Russian cosmonauts, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. A Soyuz launch carrying three additional crew, including NASA astronaut Chris Williams, is scheduled from Baikonur.

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