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The people of Earth rang the bell in 2021 with fireworks and social distancing amid the global coronavirus pandemic last night. Even astronauts in space have found a way to celebrate in their own way: a ball that has fallen weightless.
In a video from the International Space Station on New Year’s Eve (December 31), five of six astronauts living aboard the orbiting laboratory revealed what the ringtone in 2021 would look like in space. All they needed was a globe.
“We wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very happy new year,” said NASA astronaut Kate Rubins in the video posted by NASA on YouTube.
Related: Vacation in space: an astronaut photo album
“One of the most famous New Year’s traditions is watching the ball fall in Times Square in New York,” added NASA astronaut Victor Glover, referring to the iconic celebration in which thousands of revelers pack New York’s Times Square to watch a glitter 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 have blocked Times Square from most revelers.
“While many of us celebrate the New Year back home, we have 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 twist,” added astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
This twist? In weightlessness, the ball can fall.
“3, 2, 1, happy new year!” the astronauts cheered in the video, which they pre-recorded ahead of the new year.
“We hope this makes you celebrate your 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 International Space Station Expedition 64, with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos to complete the team. Rubins, Kud-Sverchkov, and Ryzhikov launched to the station in October on a Russian Soyuz rocket, while the rest of the crew launched to 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 the coronavirus.
Celebrating the New Year’s holidays in space is a little trickier than it looks, but it’s a vacation day for the resort crew.
“The seven Expedition 64 crew aboard the International Space Station will see the New Year 16 times today and take their day off on the first day of 2021,” NASA officials said in a statement.
The space station revolves around Earth once every 90 minutes or so, circling the planet 16 times each day, hence the potential for 16 New Year celebrations.
“The station revolves around 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. “Space residents have set their clocks to GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, and will begin their New Year at 12:00 GMT on January 1, five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.”
Email Tariq Malik at [email protected] or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us on @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
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