Buzz
On December 25, 1968, NASA's mission control team received confirmation of a long-discussed and widely debated event. Amidst the static of a transmission from space on Christmas morning, astronaut Jim Lovell revealed what may have been one of the best-kept secrets of the space program:
“Roger, please be informed there is a Santa Claus.”
While some may question the truth of Lovell's account of a jolly gift-bringer in space, the announcement was highly symbolic. Apollo 8’s journey to orbit the moon was the first occasion astronauts spent Christmas away from Earth. This achievement was made possible in large part by the vision of John F. Kennedy, the late president who had promised that America would land on the moon first—and before the decade’s end. By 1968, NASA was still grappling with the Apollo lunar module, which was meant to enable astronauts to land on the moon’s surface. Instead, the crew of Apollo 8—Lovell, Frank Borman, and Bill Anders—was sent to orbit the moon.
The mission's timing added an extra layer of romance to the space program. Besides capturing the iconic "Earthrise" photograph, which offered a new perspective of the planet, the crew circled the moon 10 times on Christmas Eve. They were then asked to send a message, which would be broadcast to over a billion people worldwide via radio and television. NASA left the details of this message up to the astronauts.
The astronauts chose to read from the Book of Genesis, taking turns to recite the first ten verses. They concluded their message with what could be considered the first holiday greeting from space, wishing everyone 'on the good Earth' a joyful season. The crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.
Over the years, the concept of a 'space Christmas' has often intersected with traditional Earthly celebrations. In 1973, the Skylab 4 crew observed the holiday in space. Gerald Carr, William Pogue, and Edward Gibson decided to create a Christmas tree out of food cans and packing materials. On Christmas Day, Carr and Pogue completed what was, at the time, the longest spacewalk outside Earth’s orbit, lasting seven hours and one minute. Meanwhile, Soviet cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 13 were also in orbit, though tracking their holiday activities is more challenging, as Russia typically observes Christmas on January 7 due to the use of the Julian calendar.
The next American to spend Christmas in space did so in 1996, when John Blaha was aboard Russia’s Mir space station. He and the crew received a delivery from the Progress spacecraft, filled with presents, cards, and food. Blaha later described the Progress spacecraft as 'a shining star, rising toward us at great speed from beneath the horizon.' He recalled, 'All of a sudden, the light from the Progress extinguished as we passed into the shade of the Earth. Five seconds later, four lights on the Progress were turned on. I watched the remainder of the rendezvous through a tiny window in the aft end of the Kvant module.'
Opening the presents from Progress, Blaha said, felt 'like Christmas and your birthday, all rolled together, when you are 5 years old.' What might seem like a routine event to those on Earth took on a special significance in the vastness of space.
In 1999, Michael Foale marked the first of two holiday seasons in space during the STS-103 mission, the inaugural shuttle flight to occur over the holidays. The crew woke up to the familiar sounds of Bing Crosby’s 'I’ll Be Home for Christmas' on Christmas Day. Later, Foale and his team aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery successfully deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, which had been out of commission after losing its fourth gyroscope. The crew, having repaired the telescope, then sent holiday greetings in various languages.
As astronauts spent longer periods aboard the International Space Station, Christmas became a more common celebration. The crew of Expedition One, in 2000, were the first to celebrate the holiday on the ISS. American Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev exchanged gifts sent by the Progress spacecraft and had video calls with their families.
The crew of Expedition 4 aboard the ISS also enjoyed a festive celebration, featuring turkey and other traditional holiday fare alongside their usual space meals.
In December 2018, the crew of Expedition 58 received a special delivery of gifts from the SpaceX Dragon CRS-16 cargo spacecraft. They even showcased an Elf on a Shelf as part of their festivities. A year later, in December 2019, the crew of Expedition 61 appeared in a video, wearing holiday hats and stockings, promising to dim the lights for some Christmas movies. It remains to be seen how the newly-established United States Space Force will celebrate the holidays.
Of course, Christmas isn’t the only holiday observed in space, though Earth sometimes joins in the festivities. Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent several holidays aboard the ISS, shared with *National Geographic* in 2017 that New Year’s Day is particularly exciting on the ISS because of the global celebrations. From space, Kelly could spot little flashes of light on Earth—fireworks marking the occasion.
While the landmark celebrations of Apollo 8 and the missions that followed were mostly met with enthusiasm, not everyone was swept up in the holiday spirit. After Lovell and his crew read Bible passages, an atheist named Madalyn Murray O'Hair filed a lawsuit against NASA, claiming that her First Amendment rights had been infringed. The case was dismissed, but O'Hair’s actions were perhaps inevitable. Every memorable holiday story needs its own version of Scrooge.
