Space station crew dons matching Hawaiian shirts to greet new astronauts
Aloha in space.
This still comes from NASA TV coverage of the new crew arriving.
The traditional hug gauntlet that greets new arrivals to the International Space Station got a festive new look today as the incumbent crew members wore matching Hawaiian shirts.
The ISS Twitter account described the station's conditions as "a nice balmy, tropical Friday."
The hatches opened at 11:17 am ET and @AstroSerena, @Astro_Alex and Sergey Prokopyev joined the Expedition 56 crew. 232 individuals from 18 countries have now visited the space station. #AskNASA https://t.co/H43dtVMdSr pic.twitter.com/6G2tyfwWbs
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) June 8, 2018
NASA's Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev docked with the ISS on Friday and came on board to join Expedition 56. The only thing missing were traditional flower leis.
The three crew members already on board, NASA's Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, had a reason for wearing the bright blue shirts adorned with white flowers. The trio previously arrived at the ISS in March in a Soyuz spacecraft flying under the call sign "Hawaii."
The Hawaiian theme doesn't end there. The crew broke out guitars, drums and flutes for an impromptu jam session in April and named their group AstroHawaii.
There's no word on whether the space station is stocked with any Spam supplies.
