Russian crew on ISS to have sturgeon, shrimp, black caviar on New Year's table

MOSCOW. Dec 30 (Interfax) - The Roscosmos cosmonauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) - Sergei Prokopyev, Anna Kikina and Dmitry Petelin - will treat themselves to shrimp, sturgeon, black caviar and Olivier salad as they celebrate the New Year.

"The food on our New Year's table will be simple: sturgeon, shrimp, black caviar. However, all this will be in very small quantities and tinned, but it will be there nonetheless," Prokopyev said in a video address circulated by Roscosmos on Friday.

The highlight of the crew's New Year feast will be Olivier salad, for which the cosmonauts have kept a packet of mayonnaise, he said.

Petelin, in turn, said that the crew will have three days off, from December 31 to January 2. However, according to Prokopyev, work on board the ISS does not stop even for a minute, and all routine duties will be carried out on January 1 as well.

Kikina, for her part, expressed hope that they will exchange New Year presents with the astronauts from the U.S. segment.

"The cosmonauts and the astronauts exchange some presents, for instance on birthdays, on the occasion of the New Year. We'll see. It will be the first such experience for us. I think that it will happen," Kikina said.

The day before, the cosmonauts put up New Year decorations at the Russian segment of the ISS. Petelin tied a bright snowflake to the wall and attached a small artificial New Year tree to the station's ceiling. Prokopyev decorated the station's interior with a festive sock with a penguin, while Kikina fixed a small mitten with a snowman to the laptop.

Other festive decorations, artificial snowflakes and toys have been put up on the walls of the ISS module. A net bag filled with tangerines is hanging on the ceiling. There is also a decorative message that reads "Happy New Year!".