The jolly holiday of Christmas for two unlucky astronauts has gone off plan aboard the International Space Station. In June, these two astronauts embarked for a trip intended to last eight days on the spaceship named the Boeing Starliner. Due to engine malfunctions, the astronauts were ordered to land on the I.S.S. eight months ago, and stay there for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. But these two persistent astronauts wanted to keep the Christmas tradition alive, so they put on their Santa hats and prepared for a Christmas aboard the I.S.S..

Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore were eager to follow the strange but real tradition of celebrating Christmas in space. This tradition began when the first astronauts aboard the Apollo 8 orbited the Moon while reading verses from the Book of Genesis live on TV.

Former I.S.S. astronauts also filmed themselves spinning dreidels in zero gravity, and making felt menorahs. Following suit, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams fashioned themselves a reindeer with storage bags as the body and brown industrial clips as the antlers. This design was influenced by astronauts from 1973 when they cobbled together a reindeer from leftover food cans and cardboard cutouts.

The astronauts currently aboard the I.S.S. even had a cookie decorating contest where they competed to make the most creative (and delicious) cookie. But the astronauts had an advantage—zero gravity. “The competition quickly melted away as we all played around and discovered the range of possibilities for icing in zero-g. It opened up a whole new dimension, quite literally, with layer upon layer of icing. And in the end, they tasted even better than they looked!” posted astronaut Nick Hague on X.

The stranded astronauts also ate a hearty prepared meal of turkey, hams, green beans, and casseroles. A re-supply rocketed from Florida even brought them 6000 pounds labeled “Holiday Bulk Overwrap Bag” that included a strange meal of lobster, crab and quail.

This story just goes to show that no matter what the conditions, everyone can still celebrate Christmas, even deep in space.