Even when orbiting high above the earth, during Thanksgiving, Americans in the International Space Station (ISS) long for the comforts of home.
Fortunately, the Space Food Research Facility at Texas A&M University creates Thanksgiving meals that can be enjoyed in space.
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The scientists put the traditional Thanksgiving foods, such as sliced turkey, candied yams and fruit cobbler in MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) pouches. The pouches are heat sealed and sterilized, giving the food a very long shelf life.
The space station crew will heat up the food in an oven, and eat it out of the corner of the pouch.
In a video posted to NASA's YouTube, ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough shared the menu for this year's feast. Kimbrough and fellow American Peggy Whitson will share the traditional Thanksgiving meal with a French astronaut and three Russian cosmonauts.
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Kimbrough will also seek the help of mission control for one more Thanksgiving tradition: "Of course, Thanksgiving, in my world, is not complete without some football, so we're going to have mission control send up some live football games for us to watch to complete the experience of Thanksgiving."