The first Filipino Christmas in space

In the 46 year history of human spaceflight, no Asian astronaut has ever spent Christmas in space.

Six Asian astronauts have traveled to space in the era of human spaceflight that began with Yuri Gagarin’s historic voyage on April 12, 1961.

As of October 10, 2007, a total of 467 persons from 38 countries have traveled into space either as professional astronauts, spaceflight participants or commercial astronauts.

The first Japanese in space, Toyohiro Akiyama, got the closest to being in space during Christmas. His space voyage, however, took place from Dec. 2-9, 1990. He flew to the Russian space station, Mir, on board a Soyuz TM spacecraft.

Akiyama was a TV reporter. His employer, the Tokyo Broadcasting System, sponsored his training as a cosmonaut and his trip to space.

The first Asian (excluding Russia) in space was Pham Tuan from Vietnam.

He rocketed into space as a cosmonaut on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on July 23, 1980 to man the Salyut 6 space station. Tuan stayed aboard Salyut 6 for seven days.

He was followed into space by fellow Asians from Mongolia (1981), India (1984), Japan (1990), China (2003) and Malaysia (2007). Five Middle East countries (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan, Israel and Iran) have also sent their citizens into space.

“Ang Pasko ay Sumapit” from space
Not that Christmas would have mattered to these non-Christian countries as much as it does in the Philippines. Only Japan celebrates Christmas with as much pomp as the Philippines, and that’s only because Japanese retailers see Christmas as a season to be jolly because it makes them a lot of money.

Call it very wishful thinking but a Filipino might yet become the first Asian to celebrate Christmas in space.

Yes, we don’t have a Filipino astronaut as yet. And yes, we will have one. Very soon, I hope.

And when we do have our first Filipino astronaut, here’s hoping he or she takes to space during Christmas week so he or she can achieve a double first: the first Filipino astronaut and the first Asian to celebrate Christmas in space.

Ah, to hear the strains of “Ang Pasko ay Sumapit” beamed to the Philippines and to the diaspora of Filipinos in the rest of the world from on board the International Space Station (ISS), or any other spacecraft venturing beyond the Karman Line.

It’s enough to make one weep for joy.

The first Christmas in space
The honor of being the first humans to celebrate Christmas in space, however, belongs to the three American astronauts of Apollo 8.

In 1968, Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to spend Christmas in space. They were also the first humans to orbit the Moon.

Apollo 8 left the Earth on Dec. 21, entered lunar orbit on Dec. 24, and returned to Earth on Dec. 27.

During Christmas day, the trio sent Christmas greetings and live images that some one billion people either saw on TV or heard on the radio. The trio read passages from the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1:1-10)

Borman closed their Christmas broadcast with the message, “Good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth."

The crew of Apollo 8 was subsequently voted Time Magazine’s “Men of the Year” for 1968.

The first Christmas tree in space
The next humans to spend Christmas in space were also Americans. That distinction went to the three man crew of the space station, Skylab 4, in 1973.

Commander Gerald Carr, Pilot William Pogue and Scientist Edward Gibson also set up the first Christmas tree in space. The tree was fashioned from tin cans: its trunk was a tin rod and its “leaves” consisted of twirled tin strips.

The first crew to man the ISS, Expedition One, was also the first ISS crew to spend Christmas in space.

Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko and U.S. astronaut Bill Shepherd were on board the ISS during Christmas 2000. They spent Christmas day talking to their families through special radio links.

They also opened presents delivered earlier by a Russian cargo ship and the space shuttle Endeavour, and enjoyed a Christmas dinner made with rehydrated turkey. Shepherd said much of the day was spent gazing out of the ISS windows at the Earth below.

Six other expeditions to the ISS, including the current Expedition 16, have spent or will spend Christmas on the space station.

It is a grand dream to imagine a Filipino in space by the next decade. The first Filipino astronaut will be a great Christmas gift to all Filipinos around the world. Greater than the Filipino conquest of Mt. Everest.