Thanksgiving in space

Missouri astronaut Mike Hopkins says Thanksgiving will be very different for him this year, including his holiday meal. “Some of us are going to have also some kind of plainer foods – I guess the more normal Thanksgiving foods like smoked turkey, mashed potatoes. We also have green beans that come in packages like this as well,” he says.

Hopkins is commanding a four-person crew that left earlier this month for space.He is living aboard the International Space Station for the next six months.

“On this particular Thanksgiving though, it’s going to be a little bit different because I’m spending it with my international family,” says Hopkins. “Normally, it would be with my wife and my kids and we would be with our families down on Earth. But this one is a little bit special just because of who we get to share it with up here.”

Hopkins is from southern Missouri’s Richland and he also has family near mid-Missouri’s Camdenton.