While it might look like a space-age Santa sleigh, this photograph shows a spacecraft as it was dropping off cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the ISS on December 9 at 6:19 a.m. EST (11:19 a.m. GMT) complete with nearly 3.6 tonnes (4 tons) of cargo. Hopefully there was some dehydrated turkey in there for the crew.
Fortunately, astronaut and avid Tweeter Scott Kelly caught a quick snap of the spacecraft as it approachhed the ISS, complete with the particularly festive-looking lights. While impressive, it should be noted that these lights are used on every Cygnus vehicle, not just at Christmas, to help understand the orientation of the vehicle.
But hey, it's a pretty neat coincidence. We'll file it under "minor Christmas miracle."
Day 257. A delivery in time for #Christmas decked w festive lighting. #GoodNight from @space_station! #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/m3CWFF5wXk
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) December 10, 2015
