NASA highlights past Halloween celebrations aboard the International Space Station
On Oct 29, 2026, NASA published a retrospective detailing how astronauts celebrate Halloween aboard the International Space Station. The article, released by the Johnson Space Center Office of Communications, highlights holiday traditions maintained by crew members during their orbital missions. Space station crews frequently make their own costumes using materials found on board, such as stowage containers and hand-drawn cards. The publication reviews specific celebrations dating back to 2009, including Expedition 57 in which crew members dressed as Elvis Presley, Darth Vader, and a mad scientist, as well as celebrations from Expedition 73 in 2025. For everyday readers, the announcement offers a rare look at personal life and human culture aboard humanity's primary orbital laboratory. It shows how astronauts maintain morale and social connections while living away from Earth for months at a time, celebrating traditional holidays in microgravity despite having limited resources.
What was announced
On Oct 29, 2026, John Uri of the Johnson Space Center Office of Communications published an overview of Halloween celebrations aboard the International Space Station. The announcement details how crew members participate in holiday activities while orbiting Earth.
Astronauts create costumes from items available on the station. In 2022, Expedition 68 astronauts Koichi Wakata, Frank Rubio, Nicole Mann, and Josh Cassada used stowage containers to dress as video game and cartoon characters. They also held improvised bags for trick-or-treating. During Expedition 57, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev dressed as Elvis Presley, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst dressed as Darth Vader, and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor dressed as a mad scientist in the Kibo module.
Other featured events include Expedition 37, where ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano flew through the cabin dressed as Superman. The summary also notes holiday activities by Expedition 21 in 2009, Expedition 53 in 2017, Expedition 61 in 2019, Expedition 66, Expedition 70 in 2023, and Expedition 73 in 2025.
What it means
Living in space requires crew members to adapt Earth traditions to an orbital environment. The International Space Station has hosted continuous human presence for over 25 years. Maintaining social routines and celebrating holidays helps crews handle the isolation of long spaceflights.
The document shows that international partners collaborate on these events. Astronauts and cosmonauts from NASA, ESA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Roscosmos regularly participate together. These activities rely on personal creativity, as crews build their outfits from packing materials and cargo containers rather than purpose-built supplies shipped from Earth.
What the announcement does not tell us
The article does not state what the current crew plans to do for Halloween in 2026. It lists past celebrations up to Expedition 73 in 2025, but provides no details about active costumes or events planned for the present year.
The text does not explain if NASA or other space agencies have specific rules regarding safety or material use for homemade costumes. It also does not specify how much off-duty time crews receive to celebrate holidays while maintaining daily station operations.
How this was written
This analysis was written with AI from the official announcement below, using only facts that announcement states. The quoted wording is NASA News Releases’s own. Always check the original before acting on anything here.
Although no ghouls, goblins, or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station’s front hatch, crew members aboard the orbiting laboratory still like to get in the Halloween spirit. Whether individually or as an entire crew, they dress up in sometimes spooky, sometimes scary, but always creative costumes, often designed from materials available aboard the […]
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