The two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station will enjoy a Thanksgiving feast together Thursday — as they mark 176 days in zero gravity.
The Post has learned that the ISS, where Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been holed up, has a variety of traditional Thanksgiving-themed food, like smoked turkey, candied yams, dressing, macaroni and cheese and even a cranberry dessert.
There’s just one thing: The meals are dehydrated in pouches, and the astronauts will need to add water and reheat the food.
“The difference between all of these items that you would typically have on your table for Thanksgiving versus the astronauts is this aspect of the food having to be rehydrated,” says Aaron Persad, who helps NASA develop the menu, according to Spectrum News.
“So basically, all of these elements, except perhaps the cornbread … will be this mushy, type of texture.”
The holiday meal comes after increased attention to the astronauts’ diets.
Doctors for the space agency are closely monitoring the health and food intake of Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 59, after a recent photo appeared to show Williams looking jarringly gaunt.
Williams downplayed the concerns about her visible weight loss as “rumors,” and said her difference in appearance was the result of fluid shifting in her body due to the weightlessness of space.
“There’s some rumors around out there that I’m losing weight and stuff,” Williams said in a video interview earlier this month.
“No, I’m actually right at the same amount.”
But a specialist connected with the beleaguered Starliner mission told The Post that the situation has been a cause for concern since the late summer.
“They have to eat a lot of calories up there, at least 3,000,” says the specialist, “and it’s very easy for them to get tired of the food and just not want to eat as much. But they have to. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner.”
Williams and Wilmore were only slated to be on the ISS for eight days. But when their Boeing Starliner experienced technical malfunctions, they became stranded at the ISS.
The Starliner later returned to Earth without them.
As they approach their sixth month on the ISS, Williams and Wilmore are in good spirits — and are trying to keep up their caloric intake.
“There’s plenty of food for them to eat,” said the specialist.
“They just have to eat it, whether or not they’re hungry. It’s extremely important that they do it. It’s not about their enjoyment; it’s about their health.”
A Space X flight is slated to bring the stranded astronauts back to Earth in February.
