Merry Christmas!

Crew aboard the International Space Station decorate their quarters during the festive season (NASA)

Christmas aboard the International Space Station in 2007 (NASA)

Expedition 18 Astronauts Michael Fincke and Sandra Magnus tuck into Christmas cookies  (NASA)

Expedition 34 stockings for the six-man crew aboard the International Space Station during Christmas 2012. (CSA)

An upside down Christmas tree decorates the International Space Station during Expedition 34 in this photo taken by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (CSA)

Astronauts assemble in the Unity node of the International Space Station for a Christmas party on December 24, 2012. Pictured clockwise (from top right) are NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, commander; Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin and Roman Romanenko, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, all flight engineers. (NASA)

Christmas onboard the Mir Space Station during NASA 6. ViFlight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov, Mission Specialist David Wolf, and Commander Anatoly Solovyev pose with a santa doll in a Orlan suit, small tree, decked boughs, and floating presents. (Source: NASA)

While you're unwrapping your presents, watching Christmas movies and tucking into the roast potatoes/avoiding the brussel sprouts tomorrow spare a thought for the people living 250 miles above you orbiting the Earth. 

Currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are Oleg Kotov, Mike Hopkins, Sergey Ryazanskiy, Rick Mastracchio, Mikhail Tyurin and Koichi Wakata who will be celebrating the festive season in true space style, a few examples of which I've shown above. The ISS has been continuously inhabited by humans for 13 years and in the Mir station prior to this therefore special holidays and birthdays are celebrated by astronauts in zero gravity, amongst the stars. 

Two astronauts are currently on a Christmas Eve spacewalk in an attempt to repair a part of the ISS cooling system. American astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins are fixing the malfunctioning ammonia pump which developed problems on December 11th. The last Christmas Eve spacewalk took place in 1999 when Discovery astronauts Steve Smith and John Grunsfield spent more than 8 hours refitting parts of the Hubble Space Telescope. 

Since the dawn of the Space Age, astronauts and cosmonauts have spent the Christmas season away from their loved ones, high above the Earth. Although, from their vantage point they may just catch a glimpse of the big man in the red suit and his reindeer flying across the sky!

 

Wishing you a Merry Christmas both in space and down on the ground. 

- Nikita

Meeting Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

He spent 5 months living aboard the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting the Earth and inspiring millions of us on the beauty, awe and wonder of space. Sharing YouTube videos, tweets and Facebook updates of everyday Earth routines performed in space (my favourite is here), stunning ISS-eye view photographs of the world below him, and recording modified David Bowie song 'Space Oddity' , Chris Hadfield has touched the minds and hearts of individuals across the planet. His down to earth nature in combination with his social media outreach skills have taken the world by storm. 

Soon enough, he has become the world's most popular astronaut and today I had the chance to meet him in person at a book signing event in London for 'An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth'. It was great to see so many people immersed in the pages of his book whilst in the queue. I even bumped into a few friendly faces from the International Space University(ISU) and chatted to people who were interested in joining the space industry and told them all about ISU,  it definitely is the place to go if you want to work in space regardless of your background.

Admittedly, I did get super nervous when I was near enough to hear his distinctly Canadian accent and see his infamous moustache, however once I was face to face with the legendary space man his immediate interest in who I was and what I was all about took me by pleasant surprise. I found myself babbling about my love of space to the one person I have looked up to all year and he even light heartedly agreed with me, as an astronaut should!

"My family and I love space"

"So do I!" 

Good one Chris :)

If you would like to meet Chris Hadfield and get your copy of 'An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth' signed by the man himself, be sure to check out his book tour dates here.

-Nikita 

Nikita's News

We're well and truly into Autumn here in the UK and the time I usually spend starting a new academic year has now been replaced by time spent planning my time in 2014! Turning 23 next week, I'm now back in London with a few ideas up my sleeve for what the year ahead may hold. One of these is the newly released daily, online newspaper that goes by the name of Nikita's News (I'm a sucker for alliteration). It has a nifty way of sourcing my favourite online posts via twitter into one beautiful place for you to read easily and conveniently, allowing me to select and edit daily content as I please. Covering sources from my favourite astronaut Cmdr Chris Hadfield, to the life-changing International Space University and my favourite writer & comedian Mindy Kaling, Nikita's News has a range of information for everybody to enjoy. Whether you want an update from the European Space Agency (ESA), the magazine I've just begun writing for Space Safety Magazine, inspirational businesswoman and role model Sheryl Sandberg or even from little old me via my twitter account Nikita_, then Nikita's News is the place to be!

Take a look for yourself at: http://paper.li/Nikita_/1380979535

Don't forget to hit that subscribe button :)

-Nikita

p.s I've been asked if I can really make apple pie from scratch. Find out soon whether I can invent the universe/my cooking skills and make Carl Sagan proud!