The six NASA astronauts who’re residing off planet for the time being simply beamed a particular birthday message all the way down to their dwelling nation.Mike Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore every took a flip on the mic, saying a couple of phrases concerning the Fourth of July from their perch aboard the Worldwide Area Station (ISS), about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.”The Fourth of July at all times jogs my memory of the freedoms that we proceed to combat for day by day, all around the world,” Epps stated within the new video, which NASA launched on Wednesday (July 3). The six NASA astronauts at present residing on the Worldwide Area Station ship a Fourth of July message all the way down to Earth in 2024. Clockwise from high middle: Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Tracy Caldwell Dyson. (Picture credit score: NASA)”For me, the Fourth of July is only a reminder of the fortitude that it took for our forefathers and their households to not solely have the need to combat for our freedom, but in addition the braveness to take action,” Dyson stated.Barratt got here ready, holding copies of the Declaration of Independence, the primary draft of the U.S. Structure and the Invoice of Rights.”These are sacred phrases that each American needs to be conversant in,” Barratt stated. “They’re sacred as a result of they supplied a framework for this concept of an impartial, multicultural democracy to type and really perform,” he added. “And we’re nonetheless constructing our extra excellent union; all people is aware of that. However let’s recommit, and, as we try this, let’s rejoice the Fourth of July and rejoice the good nation that we stay in.”Breaking house information, the newest updates on rocket launches, skywatching occasions and extra!Barratt, Dominick and Epps got here to the ISS in early March on SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission. Dyson arrived a couple of weeks later aboard a Russian Soyuz car. All 4 are spending about six months aboard the orbiting lab.Williams and Wilmore are shorter-term residents; they arrived on June 6 on the first-ever crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. That mission, referred to as Crew Flight Take a look at (CFT), was anticipated to final simply 10 days or so, however it has been prolonged a number of occasions as NASA and Boeing examine helium leaks and thruster points which have cropped up on Starliner. There may be at present no goal departure date for CFT.The six NASA astronauts aren’t the ISS’s solely present residents. Cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin and Oleg Kononenko are additionally residing on the ISS, however they didn’t take part within the July 4 video message.