The International Space Station crew was able to celebrate New Year's 16 different times

The International Space Station crew was able to celebrate New Year's 16 different times
(Image credit: Paolo Nespoli - ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

At some point, the International Space Station crew must have run out of new targets for a stroke-of-midnight kiss.

In a prerecorded video, ISS Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and crew member Terry Virts explain the back-of-the-envelope math: Orbiting Earth at 17,500 miles per hour, the space station would have been directly over 16 separate 'midnights' as the planet's different time zones celebrated New Year's.

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Mike Barry

Mike Barry is the senior editor of audience development and outreach at TheWeek.com. He was previously a contributing editor at The Huffington Post. Prior to that, he was best known for interrupting a college chemistry class.