--- description: Smoked turkey with all the freeze-dried fixings title: See What Astronauts on the Space Station Will Eat for Thanksgiving image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd64b52f193f83247/69876b4a55a8595b25a845cf/thanksgiving-space-station-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See What Astronauts Eat for Thanksgiving Dinner in Space by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 26, 2014 6:30 PM CUT  NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore delivers a special Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore delivers a special Thanksgiving message from the International Space StationNASA by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 26, 2014 6:30 PM CUT They may be in orbit 260 miles above Earth, but that doesn’t mean the astronauts aboard the [International Space Station](https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2014/11/24/high-flying-turkey-on-station-crews-thanksgiving-menu/ "undefined") won’t enjoy some traditional Thanksgiving fare to celebrate on Thursday. Though their meal may look a little different than what your family has planned. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA%5FAstronauts/status/537625647053410304) The smoked turkey, corn-bread dressing, green beans, and candied yams that these space explorers will eat have been irradiated, thermostabilized, or freeze-dried. Regardless, the six astronauts on board—Americans Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts, Flight Engineers Anton Shkaplerov, Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of Russia’s Roscosmos and Italian Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency— are looking forward to their holiday feast. In a video message, Commander Butch Wilmore also shared what he’s most thankful for this holiday: our troops. “People around the globe that are doing things day in and day out that make a difference for freedom,” Wilmore said. “I’m thankful for those people. I’m thankful for their families.” ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3607861/astronauts-thanksgiving-dinner-space-iss-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3607861/astronauts-thanksgiving-dinner-space-iss-photos/"},"headline":"See What Astronauts Eat for Thanksgiving Dinner in Space","datePublished":"2014-11-26T18:30:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:53.120Z","description":"Smoked turkey with all the freeze-dried fixings","url":"https://time.com/3607861/astronauts-thanksgiving-dinner-space-iss-photos/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd64b52f193f83247/69876b4a55a8595b25a845cf/thanksgiving-space-station-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd64b52f193f83247/69876b4a55a8595b25a845cf/thanksgiving-space-station-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore delivers a special Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station","caption":"NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore delivers a special Thanksgiving message from the International Space Station","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3607861/astronauts-thanksgiving-dinner-space-iss-photos/","name":"See What Astronauts Eat for Thanksgiving Dinner in Space"}}]}] ```