Christmas should also be a celebration of joy in space, which is why gifts and letters are sent to the ISS crew in a Russian spaceship.
Baikonur – An unmanned space freighter with gifts for Christmas and New Years on board has set off for the International Space Station.
The transporter of the Russian type Progress MS-18 took off on Thursday night from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan in Central Asia, as the US space agency Nasa announced. The spaceship is scheduled to dock on Saturday. According to the Russian space agency Roskosmos, it mainly brings fuel, water and food to the ISS.
“Since the next space freighter will not arrive until February, we expect that we will receive gifts for the upcoming holidays,” said cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov. “Of course there are parcels from home, surprises, letters.”
A nutcracker from the Ore Mountains, which was brought into space in August and is supposed to promote Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture in 2025, is supposed to create the Christmas spirit at the outpost of humanity at an altitude of 400 kilometers.
The astronaut Matthias Maurer should especially look forward to the traveling nutcracker. The Saarlander will leave for the space station on Sunday. There are currently a total of seven astronauts on the ISS. dpa
