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The people of Earth called in the year 2021 with fireworks and social distancing amid the global coronavirus pandemic last night. Even astronauts in space found a way to celebrate in their own unique way: a ball falling in zero gravity.
In a video from the International Space Station on New Year’s Eve (December 31), five of the six astronauts living aboard the orbiting laboratory revealed what the doorbell would look like in 2021 in space. All they needed was a globe.
“We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy New Year,” NASA astronaut Kate Rubins said in the video, which NASA posted on YouTube.
Related: Vacation in space: an astronaut photo album
“One of the most famous New Year’s Eve traditions is watching the ball drop in Times Square in New York City,” added NASA astronaut Victor Glover, referring to the iconic celebration in which thousands of revelers throng. New York City’s Times Square to see a brilliant ball drop at midnight to mark the new year.
This year, as New York City works to limit the spread of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, officials blocked Times Square for most revelers.
“As many of us celebrate the New Year from home, we brought this famous tradition into space to share with you,” NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins said in the video.
“Since we are in zero gravity, we have a special spin,” added astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
That twist? In zero gravity, the ball can fall.
“3, 2, 1, happy new year!” the astronauts cheered on the video, which they pre-recorded before the royal new year.
“We hope this inspires them to celebrate in their own way,” added NASA astronaut Shannon Walker just before that final count.
Glover, Hopkins, Noguchi, Rubins and Walker are part of the seven-person crew of the International Space Station Expedition 64, with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos completing the team. Rubins, Kud-Sverchkov and Ryzhikov launched into the station in October on a Russian Soyuz rocket, while the rest of the crew launched into the station in November on SpaceX’s Crew-1 Crew Dragon spacecraft. They named the ship Resilience in part to honor humanity’s battle against coronavirus.
Celebrating a New Year’s holiday in space is a bit more complicated than it sounds, but it’s a vacation day for the station team.
“The seven members of the Expedition 64 crew aboard the International Space Station will see the New Year 16 times today and will take the day off on the first day of 2021,” NASA officials said in a statement.
The space station orbits Earth once every 90 minutes or so, circling the planet 16 times each day, hence the potential for 16 New Years celebrations.
“The station orbits the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) giving the crew the opportunity to see 16 sunrises and sunsets each day,” NASA officials said. “Residents of the space have set their clocks at GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, and will start their new year at 12:00 am GMT on January 1, or five hours before Eastern Standard Time.”
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him at @tariqjmalik. Follow us on @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
