Although no ghouls, goblins, or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station's front hatch, the crew of the orbiting laboratory does not give up on celebrating Halloween. Astronauts dress up, either individually or as an entire crew, in costumes ranging from the terrifying to the ingenious, many of them built from materials available aboard the station.

The tradition repeats every year and is part of the routine through which crews keep morale up during long-duration missions that can last several months without face-to-face contact with everyday life on Earth. Improvisation with limited resources is precisely what defines these costumes: creativity relies on whatever is at hand inside the station.

NASA regularly shares images of these celebrations, showing astronauts floating in microgravity wearing their outfits. Far from being a mere anecdote, Halloween in orbit illustrates how long space missions also integrate the human and cultural dimension of life in space.