Astronauts see in the new year with tea

British-born astronaut Michael Foale will be celebrating the New Year with tea and roast chicken aboard the International Space Station tonight.

Foale and his Russian crew mate Alexander Kaleri, who arrived on the orbiting outpost in October for a six-month stint, said in a video link today that they would toast each other when the clock strikes midnight in London since the station’s clock is set to GMT.

With all alcohol banned from the space station, they will have to make do with tea – with sugar for Kaleri and milk for Foale.

With turkey missing from the station’s menu, the space travellers have chosen the next best thing – a roast chicken meal to go along with their tea.

The two proudly showed off their onboard Christmas tree to their Moscow audience and said they would wait until midnight to open their New Year presents - a Russian secular tradition to substitute for Christmas gifts.

The souvenirs from home were delivered to the space station by a cargo ship several months ago but the two men have patiently waited to unwrap them.