Astronauts offer their thanks, giving space on the shuttle (STS-126 Official Flight Kit)

Astronauts offer thanks, giving space on the shuttle (STS-126 OFK)

November 27, 2008

— Space shuttle Endeavour's crew of seven American astronauts are spending Thanksgiving on the International Space Station today, sharing a traditional (well, almost) dinner with the outpost's three residents and offering their gratitude to those who got them there through a small, but special payload.

"They sent us up with enough meals for the shuttle crew for Thanksgiving, with turkey and cornbread dressing, a cranberry dessert, and candied yams, and... green bean casserole," STS-126 mission specialist Stephen Bowen described on Tuesday during an in-flight media interview. "Since then, we've been kind of collecting food now that we're going to be here with the ISS crew, and now we are going to have enough food for everybody onboard, which is part of Thanksgiving anyway, sharing what you have."

If the thought of a space food Thanksgiving brings to mind squeeze tubes, think again. This is not your father's three- course astronaut dinner.

"It may be called space food, but it is actually very good," added Endeavour's commander Chris Ferguson. "A lot of it is thermostabilized, a lot of the meals come from the military and it's food like you and I enjoy at home. I'm from the Navy and I like Navy food, and I enjoy space food as well."

Don't let Ferguson fool you, though. There is something missing from his ideal Thanksgiving meal aboard the ISS.

"I like the white meat with the gravy, that's my favorite," he admitted in a pre-flight interview with collectSPACE. Though their menu includes smoked breast meat, NASA hasn't yet perfected the art of flying gravy.

"It is a little more challenging when you can't open every thing up in the same way and put dressings on," explained pilot Eric Boe. "It is usually bunched together but that is usually how it ends up on my plate anyway, so I am sure it is going to taste great."

For mission specialist Shane Kimbrough, it is not about the dressing, but how the turkey is prepared.

"Just a fresh one that came out of the oven, which we won't have," he shared of his favorite kind of turkey. The ISS's galley has an oven, but its more of a food warmer than it is capable of baking. "I am not sure I am going to get my wish," resigned Kimbrough.

And though she said she prefers dark meat, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper was more concerned about the sides.

"I like my stuffing," she stated proudly. "I don't know what makes it special, but I think it is the way I like it. I use bread cubes instead of bread crumbs. I know some people will sometimes run it through a food mill or something, but I like the chunkiness. I put celery and onions, and I even put a little mushrooms in there. I just like the textures in it. And it's mine."

According to Stefanyshyn-Piper, there just wasn't enough time before the flight to get her stuffing packed for launch.

Thanks-giving

What did make it aboard Endeavour were small souvenirs intended to convey the crew's gratitude for those close to them.

"I have brought a lot of things for the folks who worked on this mission," Ferguson explained. "The first time I flew, I brought the things I wanted, like the flags for my home school, a t-shirt for my high school. But I have asked a lot of the folks who worked very hard this flight, and there are thousands, but the folks who we worked day in and day out, 'Is there anything I could take for you on the shuttle?'"

"That is my way for just giving a little back," he shared.

The crew members, as well as divisions within NASA and its contractors, can request to have items flown inside the Official Flight Kit (OFK). Limited to two cubic feet (0.057 cubic meters) in size, the OFK is flown on every mission as a means of providing a token of gratitude to the groups that contribute to the mission's (and astronauts') success.

Boe, who like Kimbrough and Bowen was making his first spaceflight, wanted to give back to the organizations that prepared him to launch into orbit.

"From Georgia Tech, I have a shirt that is going up, and I have a cap from the Air Force Academy." He also took "a few odds and ends from the the units I was in or programs that I participated in along the way."

Stefanyshyn-Piper carried items for similar reasons as she did on her first mission, STS-115, in 2006.

"There are similar items but they are different. Like on the last flight, I flew a swim cap for my son's high school swim team. Well this time, I have got one for his college swim team. And like I flew last time in honor of my father, I have a small Ukrainian flag."

"Kind of have to spread the wealth a little bit to give other people the opportunity to have a flown item in space," she added.

And as the saying goes, sometimes what comes around, goes around.

"I'm bringing up my spoon," STS-126 mission specialist Don Pettit told collectSPACE. "It's a Russian spoon and it has this really long handle."

Pettit was gifted the spoon, which has come to be known as the "Spoon of Exploration", during his 2002 five-month stay aboard the space station. Since then, he's taken it with him on his other NASA expeditions to Antarctica and elsewhere.

"It's designed for on-orbit use. It's really good for digging down into a deep pouch that has food in it so you don't get your fingers all gooey," Pettit described, which should be perfect for the Thanksgiving meal he'll be sharing with his crewmates.

Thanksgiving astronaut-style: Endeavour's crew has turkey with green bean casserole, candied yams, cornbread dressing and a cranberry dessert for their holiday meal. (collectSPACE)

NASA's freeze-dried cornbread dressing does not compare to Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper's own recipe for stuffing. (collectSPACE)

The STS-126 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-126 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	625 STS-126 crew patches 25 Expedition 17 patches 25 Expedition 18 patches	Agency Presentation
2.	600 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation
3.	4 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation
4.	4 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation
5.	20 Small Texas Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 NASA Patches 5 Texas Lapel Pins 1 Bronze NASA Seal Medallion 1 Silver Shuttle Pendant 6 Small JSC Medallions 1 11x13" Mississippi State University Flag	Agency Presentation
6.	10 Small Flags of the Following States: Georgia Florida Minnesota	Agency Presentation
7.	5 Small Flags of the Following States: Pennsylvania Connecticut Massachusetts Illinois Missouri Texas	Agency Presentation
8.	2 Small Flags of the Following U.S. States: Maine Rhode Island Vermont New Hampshire	Agency Presentation
9.	Small International Flags: 2 Scotland 2 Australia 2 Poland 10 Spain	Agency Presentation
10.	Small Military Flags: 10 U.S. Air Force 10 U.S. Army 10 U.S. Coast Guard 10 U.S. Marine Corps 30 U.S. Navy	Agency Presentation
11.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
12.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
13.	2 Small United States Flags 2 Small Florida State Flags 10 Small KSC Coins	Kennedy Space Center Presentation
14.	140 Silver Snoopy Pins	Space Flight Awareness Presentation

15.	25 EVA Patches	Agency Presentation
16.	10 STS-126 Crew Patches 20 Small U.S. flags 10 DoD Space Test Program Patches 10 DoD Human Spaceflight Support Office Patches 6 Space Development & Test Wing Coins	DoD Presentation
17.	15 STS-126 Crew Patches	United Space Alliance Presentation
18.	10 Constellation Patches 5 Lunar Surface Systems Patches 5 Altair Patches	Constellation Program Office Presentation
19.	25 MOD patches	Mission Operations Directorate Presentation

20.	25 COD patches	Center Operations Directorate Presentation

21.	100 Small Enamel Ribbon Lapel Pins	Agency Presentation

22.	Miniature Computer Memory Card	Agency Presentation

Items 23 through 78 are manifested at the request of the STS-126 crewmembers.

23.	Launch Patch	Math Science and Technology Community Charter School, Philadelphia, PA

24.	Large Red and White Baseball Jersey	Phillies National League Club, Philadelphia, PA

25.	10"x15" Woven Fabric Net	Pearland Intermediate School, Pearland, TX

26.	Small Navy School T-shirt	Cypress Creek Elementary School, Port Orange, FL

27.	Medium Green School T-Shirt	Creekside Intermediate School, Port Orange, FL

28.	Squadron VF11 Patch	U.S. Air Force Fighter Squadron 11, Virginia Beach, VA

29.	36x50" Navy and Gold Flag	National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH

30.	3x5' White, Black and Blue NASCAR Flag	Americrown Service Corporation, Daytona Beach, FL

31.	Black Square Patch	Clear Lake High School, Houston, TX

32.	Lapel Pin	Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA

33.	Red, White and Blue Patch	Georgia Civil Air Patrol, Atlanta, GA

34.	Gold and Navy Lapel Pin	Henderson Middle School, Atlanta, GA

35.	Air Force ROTC Medallion	Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

36.	12x19" Green and White Flag	Fernbank Science Center, Atlanta, GA

37.	3x5' White Foundation Flag	Hertz Graduate Fellowship, Livermore, CA

38.	Astronautical Engineering Department Medallion	U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

39.	Black, Red and Blue Ares Patch	Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

40.	Silver Commemorative Medallion	The Spaatz Association, Washington, DC

41.	Large Navy and White Hockey Jersey	Cohasset High School, Cohasset, MA

42.	Large Navy and Beige Hockey Jersey	U.S. Naval Academy Hockey Team, Annapolis, MD

43.	3x5" Black and Gold Metal Placard	Heritage Park Wahoo Swim Team, Friendswood, TX

44.	2.5x.75" Miniature Pink Ballet Slipper	Bossov Ballet Theater, Pittsville, MN

45.	Gold and Navy USS Nautilus Medallion	Sub Force Museum, Groton, CT

46.	Silver Submarine Warfare Insignia	USS Nautilus, Groton, CT

47.	Bronze Naval Ordnance Test Unit Medallion	Department of the Navy, Annapolis, MD

48.	Gold Deep Sea Diver Medallion	Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, Cape Hatteras, NC

49.	Large White T-shirt with Logo	Farnsworth Aerospace Elementary, St. Paul, MN

50.	Green Enamel Lapel Pin	Plast Ukrainian Youth Org, Minneapolis, MN

51.	Yellow and Maroon Swim Cap	Gannon University Swim Team, Erie, PA

52.	8x10" Wrestling Team Logo Picture	Temecula Valley Wrestling Team, CA

53.	4x6x10.5" Blue and Yellow Flag on Wood Pole	St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic School, Minneapolis, MN

54.	White and Red Placard with Logo	Belle Vista Middle School, Temecula, CA

55.	White and Yellow Patch	Temecula Valley High School, Temecula, CA

56.	8x12" White and Blue School Pennant	Trinity Valley School, Ft. Worth, TX

57.	Squadron Patch	92th Assault Helicopter Company, Atlanta, GA

58.	Silver Medallion	Army Aviation Association of America, West Port, CT

59.	Large White and Black Baseball Jersey	U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY

60.	Medium White and Red Baseball Jersey	Atlanta Braves, Atlanta, GA

61.	12x18" U.S. Flag	Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, AL

62.	Medium Blue Football Jersey	University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

63.	Gold and Black Medallion	Army Athletic Association, West Point, NY

64.	Small Black T-shirt with Logo	One Organization, New York, NY

65.	22x30" White Flag with Black Lettering	Bartlett Public Library District, Bartlett, IL

66.	Copper Medallion on White Ribbon	Belleville Science Academy, Belleville, IL

67.	Expedition 18 Silver Medallion	National Undersea Research Center, Key Largo, FL

68.	8.5x11" Photograph	Westside Veterinary Hospital, Pearland, TX

69.	White, Red and Green Patch	Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Canyon, TX

70.	White Gold Medallion	Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville, IL

71.	Silver U.S. Air Force Military Astronaut Wings	Agency Presentation

72.	Gold U.S. Navy Military Astronaut Wings	Agency Presentation

73.	Gold U.S. Navy Military Astronaut Wings	Agency Presentation

74.	Silver and Gold U.S. Army Military Astronaut Wings	Agency Presentation

75.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

76.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

77.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

78.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

79.	100 Metal Shuttle Tokens	Space Center Houston Items

80.	14" Conductor's Baton	Agency Presentation

Items 81 through 101 are manifested at the request of the Space Shuttle Program Office and Payload Customers.

81.	965 Small United States Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation

82.	300 Sheets of SSP Bookmarks	Space Shuttle Program Presentation

83.	25 ULF2 Mission Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

84.	10 Crew Quarters Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

85.	15 Regen ECLS Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

86.	10 Waste and Hygiene Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

87.	10 Galley Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

88.	10 TOCA Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

89.	10 ARED Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

90.	10 REFH Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

91.	10 GLACIER Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

92.	10 GLACIER Flags	ISS ULF2 Presentation

93.	10 FCF Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

94.	10 MSG Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

95.	10 EXPRESS Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

96.	10 Utilization Office Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

97.	10 CIR Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

98.	20 MPLM Sustaining Engineering Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

99.	10 Italian Space Agency ASI Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

100.	10 IJ Mission Patches	ISS ULF2 Presentation

101.	10 STP Patches	ISS ULF2/DoD Presentation