KEY POINTS

  • The crew members of the International Space Station also dress up in Halloween costumes each year
  • NASA also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the historic launch of the Expedition 1 mission on Oct. 31, 2000
  • Expedition 1 was the first long-duration stay on the ISS

Celebrating Halloween has become a tradition for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and crew members make sure to don costumes for the spooky occasion each year.

On Saturday, NASA shared throwback photos on its website of how ISS astronauts have celebrated Halloween over the past two decades. With limited materials available in the space station, crew members have gotten creative when it came to putting together Halloween costumes.

One of the images showed the Expedition 21 crew in various costumes as they marked Halloween in 2009.

halloween_on_iss_exp_21
Left: Halloween 2009 and the Expedition 21 crew shows off its costumes. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-halloween-on-iss

Another throwback snap NASA shared showed Italian Space Agency astronaut Luca S. Parmitano in a Superman costume, complete with a red cape, flying around the ISS during Expedition 37 in 2013.

halloween_on_iss_exp_37_parmitano
Italian Space Agency astronaut Luca S. Parmitano finally gets his wish to fly like Superman during Expedition 37. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-halloween-on-iss

A 2017 photo revealed the Halloween costumes of the Expedition 53 crew, with NASA astronaut Randolph J. Bresnik, who was the commander of the mission, showing off his “Minions”-inspired getup.

halloween_on_iss_exp_53
The Expedition 53 crew all dressed up for Halloween in 2017. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-station-20th-halloween-on-iss

Halloween wasn't the only occasion NASA celebrated this Saturday. This year, the space agency celebrates the 20th anniversary of the historic launch of the Expedition 1 mission from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The mission sent commander William M. Shepherd of NASA, flight engineer and Soyuz commander Yuri P. Gidzenko of Roscosmos and flight engineer Sergei K. Krikalev of Roscosmos to the ISS aboard the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft atop a Soyuz-U rocket on Oct. 31, 2000.

From November 2000 to March 2001, Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev stayed aboard the ISS for a total of 136 days. Their mission marked the first long-duration stay on the station and was the start of uninterrupted human presence on the ISS which continues today.

The Expedition 1 crew was originally expected to launch in mid-1998. However, due to the two-year delay, the crew members had a much longer training period than usual — allowing them four years of preparation for the big day.

Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev alternated between NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City outside of Moscow, NASA said.

RELATED STORIES
International Space Station Halloween NASA