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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Explore More

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.