Have there been any specifically Christmas related events in space? I assume there's a 'Christmas dinner' on the ISS, but is there anything else?
-
1$\begingroup$ I realize that you're asking about human activities in space during the Advent period, but you're not specifically saying it, so I have to mention the Star of Bethlehem :) $\endgroup$ – TildalWave Dec 25 '14 at 14:43
The most famous Christmas-related event was on the Apollo 8 mission. Apollo 8 orbited the Moon on Christmas Eve and into the morning of December 25th.
On Christmas Eve, the crew read the first 10 verses from Genesis 1 on TV for what was then the largest TV audience ever. They closed their broadcast with:
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth.