First marriage in space: a wife on earth marries her husband on the ISS

Ekaterina Dmitriev Malenchenko poses with a cardboard cutout of her new husband, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, after the wedding ceremony in August 2003, while Malenchenko was still in the space.AP Photo / Brett Coomer

• The first wedding in space took place that day, 16 years ago, when Ekaterina Dmitriev went to the ground in Texas, while her husband was in orbit in the International Space Station.
• She married her new husband, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, by video link, walking down the aisle to listen to a song by David Bowie, just as the station reappeared in the sun.
• The couple decided to marry in space when Malenchenko's time at the station was extended and that Dmitriev posed with a cardboard cut of his actual size during the event.
• Malenchenko's best man was another astronaut, who played the wedding march on a portable keyboard by their side.
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August 10, 2003, Ekaterina Dmitriev married the love of his life while he floated 250 km above her in space.

It was the first ever wedding in space, which was taking place via satellite link while Dmitriev was at NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas. Her future husband, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, is connected to a video link from the International Space Station.

Dmitriev wore a white dress and jewelry, the image of a brilliant bride as she posed next to a cardboard cut at the waist-size of her new husband wearing his spacesuit – and a bow tie.

"As Yuri was further away, he was closer to me because of the communication we have," said Dmitriev, an American, reported the New York Times at the time.

Ekaterina Dmitriev with a life-size cut of her new husband, Yuri Malenchenko, after his satellite wedding.REUTERS / Richard Carson

At one point, she sent him a kiss and he sent one away.

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According to the BBC, the ceremony was not really planned in this way. Their wedding date was decided before From Malenchenko the time in the space was extended and they decided to organize a wedding in the space, without the some 200 guests scheduled to attend the initial wedding.

And Edward Lu, another ISS astronaut, played the role of the best man, playing the wedding march on a portable keyboard – what the wedding planner called "very sweet."

Yuri Malenchenko, then a member of the International Space Station team, at a press conference near Moscow in August 2016.REUTERS / Maxim Zmeyev

Dmitriev said the couple had a "heavenly and spiritual bond". The couple's story was colored by space: they met at a party celebrating Yuri Gagarin's first-ever manned space flight, after which NBC named Malenchenko.

Malenchenko, as his name indicates, was an accomplished astronaut, making multiple trips into space and performing several outings in space, as well as receiving rewards like this. Hero of the Russian Federation, the highest distinction of Russia.

As a result, the couple was used to a long-distance relationship – they spoke by telephone, Dmitriev residing in the United States, while Malenchenko was training for a space flight in Russia.

Ekaterina Dmitriev with the cutout of Yuri Malenchenko on the day of their wedding.REUTERS / Richard Carson

The moment Dmitriev walked into the alley to listen to a David Bowie song was the moment when the ISS reappeared in the sun, gravitating around the land just south of New Zealand, reported NBC.

Their exploit was also unusual, as Russia had given them permission to marry, while stating that other cosmonauts could not do the same.

Malenchenko came back to earth to see his fiancée in October.