If you're an astronaut and you're in space, would you still celebrate human civilization holidays? Here's an interesting trivia: astronauts still do, whether on space or on Earth. The most recent of occasions is Father's Day, preceded by a safe arrival of three astronauts last June 18.
Space reports that on this year's Father's Day, three astronauts of Expedition 47 have returned to Earth, landing safely in Kazakhstan. All of these astronauts are fathers and fortunately, three of them got to see their children this Father's Day while the other three astronauts of the said space expedition have three more months before going back to human society.
After living half a year in space, British astronaut Tim Peake, American astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmanaut Yuri Malenchenko arrived to their home planet on the early morning of June 18. Peake and Kopra are fathers of two kids while Malenchenko has one child (via Space).
The remaining astronaut are dads too, namely American astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin. Williams and Skripochka have two children each, with the former already a grandfather of three, while Ovchinin has one kid (via Space). If they are planets apart, how will they celebrate Father's Day with their families?
Well, the Internet can really bridge long distance relationships because even in space, it exists! The astronauts have access to make calls and even use social media.
The device called the satellite Internet Protocol phone that astronauts have allows them to have internet access even in space. According to NASA's Flight Director Holly Ridings in 2013 as per Space Answers, astronauts can call Earth anytime they want.
"Yes, the actually have an IP phone, which works functionally through a computer. It's kind of like 'Space Skype'. They can call any phone in the world if they have the right satellite coverage. That helps them stay in connection with their families and their friends as well as the people they work with. And then they have these regularly scheduled meetings with their families where they can get video as well. So there's lot of different ways that we communicate with them on a daily basis," Ridings told Space Answers.
As per Space, Peake even tweeted about calling a wrong number, asking the receiving end if he was calling Planet Earth. The tweet as of posting already has over 30,000 retweets and 42,000 likes.
According to NASA, Expedition 47 was launched to start a research on the effects of spaceflight to the musculoskeletal system which is defined as the "ability of tablets to dissolve in microgravity and how robotics can make exercise equipment smaller to minimize space dedicated to equipment and leave more room for crew during a long-duration mission." In short, the research would help NASA's future space mission to Mars.
If given the chance, would you like to go to space and experience being an astronaut? Share your space dreams on the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
