Thanksgiving in space: What's on the menu?

What's Thanksgiving like in space?

In a sense, not too different from the first Thanksgivings in America, says NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, commander of Expedition 42 aboard the International Space Station.

After all, the English settlers of Plymouth Colony were pioneers in an unknown land, crossing vast oceans to explore new worlds not unlike astronauts of today.

"The first thing that comes to mind is going all the way back to those early settlers when they endured some really rough times, crossing the ocean and getting started in an unknown land," Wilmore said in a recorded message from aboard the International Space Station.

Of course, not everything is the same. While early settlers may have feasted on wild fowl, venison, corn, beans, and mussels, and modern Thanksgiving tables aren't complete without turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes, astronauts aboard the space station will be cutting open bags of freeze-dried, irradiated, and thermostabilized foods on Thursday.

What's on the space station's menu this Thanksgiving?

According to NASA, the meal will include smoked turkey, candied yams and green beans and mushrooms. The meal also will feature NASAs own freeze-dried cornbread dressing just add water. Dessert features thermostabilized cherry-blueberry cobbler.

Each food item comes in its own vacuum-packed single-serve packet, so astronauts simply cut open the packet and eat right out of it, no preparation or cleanup necessary.

Thanksgiving is often a work day in outer space, but astronauts don't seem to mind.

"People often ask us what it's like to be onboard ISS for the holidays," NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins said in a 2013 Thanksgiving video beamed down from the station. "Though we miss our families, it's great to be in space. As astronauts, this is what we train for and this is where we want to be."

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Thanksgiving in space: What's on the menu?