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For the astronauts onboard the
International Space Station Christmas came one day later and Santa Claus drove
a spacecraft, not a sledge. Santa’s gifts for the astronauts came with a
Russian cargo, which docked on Wednesday at the International Space Station,
according to officials.
The Progress M-62 launched on
Sunday from Russia’s
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
and carried no less than two tones of supplies, including Christmas gifts. According
to Russia’s
Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin, the Progress M-62 spacecraft docked at
the orbiting outpost at 11:14 a.m.
Excepting traditional Christmas
and New Year gifts, the ship delivered food, including vegetables and fruit, drinking
water and oxygen, as well as fuel and equipment. The ISS’ crew, that is the United States’
astronauts Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko,
enjoyed both gifts and supplies.
The gifts carried to the ISS included birthday
presents for Russia’s
astronaut, who turned 46 on Saturday.
Daniel Tani had probably mixed
feelings regarding this year’s Christmas, which should be a moment of joy and happiness
for most of people. The American astronaut lost his 90-year-old mother just a
few days ago in car crash accident.
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