JAKARTA - Currently the International Space Station (ISS) is occupied by seven astronauts, even though they are busy with various studies, does not mean they are not celebrating the New Year. So, how do the crew on the ISS celebrate the New Year? This is what you need to know.
The ISS orbits the Earth at a speed of 17,500 mph and therefore sees many sunrises and sets throughout one Earth day, so maybe the astronauts can see easily forget their time.
Fortunately, when astronauts started living in orbital posts more than two decades ago, NASA and its international partners considered this puzzle and produced a simple solution.
They set the ISS to Universal Time Jam (UTC), which is in direct contact with theloyal Mean Time zone in London, England, and means every new year starts at 7 p.m. ET on January 31.
This is so that residents of the ISS can properly regulate space-based operations and activities. As the ISS continues to move around Earth, its time zone and location continue to change, even when it comes to avoiding space debris.
Thus, astronauts on the ISS will celebrate the New Year just hours before anyone else in the United States (US) begins celebrating it.
Most likely, every astronaut also wants to celebrate the arrival of the New Year according to their home time zone on Earth.
Astronauts will usually gather for the New Year's party where they will enjoy special food treats brought from Earth. However, they are not allowed to consume alcohol or similar drinks.
Currently, the ISS crew consists of US citizens Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann, and Josh Cassada, Russian citizens Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin, and Anna Kikina and Koichi Wakata from Japan.
Unfortunately, there is little remaining New Year to celebrate on the ISS, as NASA plans to deorbit the ISS in the 2030s.
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