Astronauts celebrate Thanksgiving in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A dozen astronauts in orbit were to pause for a weightless Thanksgiving Thursday even though they were aboard two separate spacecraft, NASA said.

The space shuttle Atlantis, with seven crew members on board, left the International Space Station early Wednesday, capping off a week-long visit to stock the outpost with spare equipment.

The shuttle is slated to land Friday at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The shuttle crew left behind five colleagues on the station, led by NASA astronaut and new commander Jeffrey Williams, who took command Tuesday. Along with him on the orbital laboratory are European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne, Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Maxim Suraev, and Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk.

The Atlantis crew included commander Charlie "Scorch" Hobaugh, pilot Barry "Butch" Wilmore, and mission specialists Nicole Stott, Randy Bresnik, Leland Melvin, Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher, Jr.

The astronauts recorded a special holiday message for Earth from the flight deck of Atlantis, Space.com reported.