NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, the mission commander on the International Space Station’s (ISS) current Expedition 70 mission aboard the orbital lab, marked Hanukkah from the International Space Station with a unique menorah and dreidel (spinning top).
Lighting fire is not permitted on the space station so Moghbeli had to improvise.
“My husband and little girls helped make a felt menorah, with lights for each night, that I can pin on to celebrate with them. So I’m excited to do that,” she told the media before the mission.
In a Zoom call at the time with Space.com, Moghbeli added that she is considering how to include latkes if possible.
Along with her non-incendiary menorah, Moghbeli also has a dreidel with her aboard the ISS. The four-sided spinning top is used to play a Hanukkah game in which participants bet on their spins with chocolate coins. Outside of Israel,the dreidel’s four sides feature letters, which, in Hebrew, are an acronym for the phrase that translates to “a great miracle happened there.” In Israel, the acronym is different, standing for, “a great miracle happened here.”
In theory, a dreidel on the space station would continue to spin for an exceptionally prolonged time as there is no gravity to slow its spin or topple it, making an actual game of dreidel nearly impossible to play.
The Hanukkah preparations required some forethought as the mission was launched on August 26.
Moghbeli’s family immigrated from Tehran to Germany in 1980, three years before she was born. They immigrated to Houston one year later. Originally Shiite, they converted to Lutheranism but still celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Her husband, Sam Wald, an aerospace engineer, is Jewish. They celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah at home. Moghbeli also brought a Christmas ornament with a photo of her family to the space station.
