Christmas is being celebrated all around the world and even in lower Earth orbit among the crew at the International Space Station. Traveling at 17, 500 miles per hour, literally around the globe, the crew enjoyed a special Christmas dinner in space as the rest of us on Earth.

Astronauts aboard the orbiting space laboratory were also able to receive Christmas presents. These gifts were transported by a Japanese cargo supply ship last month.

This holiday season, astronauts spent the day off on Christmas including December 26 as well.

NASA shared a video from the ISS crew sending their Christmas wishes on December 20. Each crew member was able to share their holiday spirit and wishes including revealing the dinner menu of their Christmas feast.

 

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet wore a festive Santa hat in the video and talked about his big family back home in France where his grandmother would usually cook meals for him and his 25 cousins. "I will make the most out of this opportunity to reflect what Christmas means to us while in space and enjoy a Christmas meal together here aboard the ISS," he added.

Their Christmas meal consisted of traditional dishes such as turkey, potatoes, cornbread stuffing with green beans, and fruit salad. They ended their meal with chocolate cake and cocoa, including gingerbread cookies for dessert.

Pesquet enjoyed this traditional feast but also managed to share some French Christmas dishes with the other members of the crew with chicken supreme with morels and ox tongue.

According to NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, being aboard the ISS gives you a slightly different perspective of Christmas, seeing the entire planet Earth as a whole.