Crew of ISS celebrates Thanksgiving Day with turkey and rice

The rumors about an alleged collision of the ISS with an unidentified piece of metal, spread by some mass media, did not seem to bother the station crew that celebrated the Thanksgiving Day in space.

"Alexander Kaleri and Michael Foal have a light workload during the holiday," reported NASA public relations coordinator Sergei Puzanov in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"The crew will celebrate the holiday with delicious turkey and rice and will receive greetings from friends and relatives by e-mail or by satellite communications," he said.

Space technology also allows conducting a videoconference with close relatives of the astronauts. Connecting a video camera to a notebook computer, the crew will be able to download a "picture" from the ISS directly to a computer at relatives' home. "I am not sure about Alexander, but Michael will definitely use the computer up-link today," said Mr. Puzanov.