How the space station crew celebrates the New Year with 16 sunrises a day

Life aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is anything but ordinary. From floating in microgravity to having breathtaking views of Earth, astronauts experience a unique existence. Even routine tasks like going to the bathroom are more complex, and venturing outside requires special protective gear.

The ISS orbits Earth at about 17,000 mph, resulting in astronauts witnessing 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every 24 hours. So, how will the current crew—NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, and Nick Hague, along with Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner—know when to celebrate the arrival of 2025?

When humans first started living aboard the space station nearly 25 years ago, space officials addressed this issue by setting the ISS clocks to Universal Time Clock (UTC), closely related to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in London. This means the new year officially begins aboard the space-based laboratory at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) on December 31, which is midnight UTC/GMT. So, as you read this, it’s already 2025 on the space station!

Each crew member might prefer to celebrate according to their home time zone on Earth. However, considering the U.S. and Russia span 17 time zones, this could make for an exceptionally long party. Instead, the astronauts usually agree on a time to gather for a celebration inside one of the station’s modules. They’ll enjoy special food treats, although a champagne toast is off the table as alcohol isn’t permitted on the ISS.

Two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who earlier this year never imagined they’d be in orbit on this special evening, add to the excitement. They arrived at the ISS in June on the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft. Due to technical issues, the Starliner had to return without them for safety reasons. Williams and Wilmore are now expected to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon in March. Seeing in the new year 250 miles above Earth will surely be a memory they’ll cherish forever.