ISS astronauts celebrate New Year's eve 16 times

Washington: The crew of Expedition 42 orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station celebrated New Year's eve as many as 16 times as it circles the globe at 28,163 km per hour, NASA said.

Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and his crew spent the New Year's eve working on a variety of experiments, ranging from those directed at better understanding changes that occur in the human eye during long-duration spaceflights, and with the Earth observations aimed at helping with disaster aid on the Earth's surface.

The crew also continued preparations for the arrival of the next cargo supply ship, the commercial resupply mission of SpaceX-5 and the Dragon spacecraft.

The launch of Dragon on a Space-X Falcon 9 booster is planned for Jan 6 and it will rendezvous with the space station after two days.

Dragon is loaded with more than 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies, including critical materials to support 256 science and research investigations that will take place on the space station during ISS Expeditions 42 and 43.