When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Credit: NASA TVThey may not be home for Christmas, but astronauts in space are finding their own way to make the season bright. They’ve even hung their space stockings by the airlock with care.Four astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are sending their best Christmas wishes to Earth as they orbit our planet. NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman and Chris Williams and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have sent a video Christmas card home as they and three other crewmates spend the holidays 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”Greetings to planet Earth, all of our friends and family, from Expedition 74 aboard the International Space Station, flying high above,” said Fincke, who commands the Expedition 74 crew on the ISS. “Thinking of you during this holiday season.”The space stockings are hung by the airlock with care in this photo from the Expedition 74 astronauts on the International Space Station. A small Christmas tree sits atop the Kibo module airlock, too. | Credit: NASA TVWhile Fincke and his crewmates miss their loved ones on Earth, they are finding joy in a different kind of family.”It’s also a little bit sad because we’re not with our families at the time, but actually we are,” Fincke said. “We’re with our space family, so we’re okay. And we’re looking forward to spending the holidays together.”The astronauts will celebrate in orbit alongside their Mission Control support teams all across Earth, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to centers in Japan, Europe and Russia, he added.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementExpedition 74 flight engineer Chris Williams, one of the newest arrivals to the ISS, said the astronauts are finding ways to put a zero-gravity spin on Christmas traditions. After all, he arrived at the station on another holiday: Thanksgiving.”So as you can see, we’ve got a little bit of decoration here,” Williams said in the video as he showed off a display adorning the small airlock hatch inside the space station’s Japanese Kibo laboratory. “W …
