The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) will see the New Year at least twice, flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin told a video press conference at Russian mission control center near Moscow on Thursday.

The ISS revolves around the Earth 16 times in a day, so the crew will have 16 New Year midnights.

"We shall see how many times we will celebrate the New Year. We will try to do our best. Earnestly, we will mark the holiday together with our families by Moscow and New York time," Tyurin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The crew has received Christmas and New Year gifts on board the Discovery space shuttle.

NASA astronauts Michael Lopez-Algeria and Sunita Williams also took part in the press conference. Lopez-Algeria said he was glad to receive drawings by his seven-year-old son, and Williams received pictures of her beloved dog Gorbie from her mom.

The absence of alcohol is an inconvenience, said the astronauts, who would like "some champagne and caviar." 

Editor: Donald