ISS crew celebrate Cosmonauts Day with cordon bleu

The crew of the International Space Station will be celebrating the Russian holiday Cosmonauts Day with a gourmet feast provided by Martha Stewart.

Microsoft millionaire Charles Simonyi took the hamper of food up to the station as part of his $25 million holiday on the orbiting platform. Today, to celebrate the anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first human orbit, the crew will be tucking into a special menu to relieve the tedium of the usual rations.

The menu will include quail roasted in Madrian wine, duck breast ‘confit’ with capers, shredded chicken parmentier, apple fondant pieces, rice pudding with candied fruit, and semolina cake with dried apricots.

“I am really looking forward to sharing this dinner with my crewmates on the station,” he said.

“Although the food is very good there, it is somewhat basic, and after a couple of weeks, everything starts tasting the same. I am certain a little variation will be surely welcome.”

Stewart, who provided the meal, accompanied Simonyi to the launch and sent him a message while in orbit. The two have been romantically linked and it was rumoured that he proposed to her before the launch.

Simonyi is spending his time on the station installing new hard drives on some of the station’s computers and conducting experiments into weightlessness. He has also hinted that Bill Gates might also want to try a trip out into orbit.

Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin said during a live interview from the station that Simonyi had said Gates was interested in visiting the station.