Santa Hat That Flew on Space Shuttle Now on Display at Hutchinson Museum

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Santa hat worn by astronaut John Grunsfeld during the only NASA Space Shuttle mission to occur during Christmas is now on display at the Cosmosphere. The red hat flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-103 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission in 1999, when crew members found small ways to bring holiday cheer into orbit during their brief celebration on the shuttle's middeck. The Cosmosphere notes that STS-103 holds a unique place in spaceflight history as the sole Christmas mission among NASA's 135 total shuttle flights, making the festive artifact a one-of-a-kind piece of space history that visitors can now see in person.

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