Six Of The Best Space Pranks Performed In History.

1. April 1st 2010 - Unauthorised space walk.

On April Fool's Day in 2010, a trio of astronauts on the ISS pulled a prank by taking a photo of themselves outside the Cupola without their spacesuits and sending it to Mission Control. Despite the dangerous conditions with no oxygen, extreme heat, and lack of habitable space, the astronauts looked remarkably calm and collected in the picture.



The trio consisted of Timothy Creamer from NASA, Soichi Noguchi from Japan, and Oleg Kotov, a cosmonaut. Their lighthearted joke brought some laughter to the people back on Earth.

2. Feb 13th 2017 - Packaged Astronaut

In 2017, astronaut Peggy Whitson, who was aboard the ISS at the time, decided to play a prank on her Russian crewmates. Given the limited space on the station, she asked her colleagues Shane Kimbrough from NASA and Thomas Pesquet from the European Space Agency (ESA) to help her hide inside a cargo bag.

When the cosmonauts found Whitson unexpectedly popping out of the bag in their module, they were clearly taken aback. Although the prank didn't turn out to be very frightening, it was undeniably cute.

3. Feb 23 2016 - Space Gorilla

In what may be one of the most well-coordinated and long-distance pranks in history, Mark Kelly, the identical twin of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, sent a gorilla suit to his brother on a resupply flight to the ISS. Scott quickly donned the suit and hid inside one of the station's soft-sided storage containers.

As European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake was securing the container, the "space gorilla" suddenly emerged and began chasing the British astronaut around the ISS. The comical episode was captured in a hilarious NASA video. While some questioned the wisdom of spending time and resources on such pranks, the sheer absurdity of the situation made it a worthwhile diversion. And yes, the Kelly twins are still identical!

4. Sept 10 1973 - The Ghostly Woman

On September 10, 1973, male astronauts aboard Skylab were startled to hear a woman's voice playing over the intercom. Even Mission Control in Houston was confused as to where the voice, which talked about cooking meals and watching forest fires from above, was coming from.



As it turned out, astronaut Owen Garriott had recorded his wife reading out pre-prepared statements during a previous radio chat and punctuated them with pauses to make it seem like she was having a conversation. When played back, it sounded like a female astronaut had snuck aboard the space station.

When Mission Control asked for her identity, the voice accurately identified herself as Helen Garriott, leading to more confusion until the truth was revealed. "Well, I see the boys are floating in my direction. I've got to get off the line," Helen signed off. "I'm not supposed to be talking to you." The prank left everyone amused but also a bit perplexed.

5. April 1st 2013 - Pizza ordered to the ISS

On April Fool's Day in 2013, NASA astronaut Ron Garan and his colleagues Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa made a prank call to a pizza place in Houston. The pizza place claimed to be able to deliver a pizza anywhere in the area in 30 minutes or less. The astronauts challenged them to deliver a pizza to the ISS, despite the considerable obstacles of distance and microgravity.



Unfortunately, it later emerged that the call was fake, and no pizza was actually ordered. Perhaps this will inspire the current ISS crew to execute a more successful prank on this year's day of playful foolishness.

6. March 23 1963 - Anyone for corned beef?

NASA astronaut John Young defied the rules by sneaking a corned beef sandwich into space on March 23, 1963, just before he was launched on Gemini III, the first crewed flight in the program. In a conversation with his crewmate Gus Grissom, Young revealed his unusual contraband.

Grissom asked, "What is it?"

Young replied, "Corn beef sandwich."

Grissom asked, "Where did that come from?"

Young admitted, "I brought it with me. Let's see how it tastes. Smells, doesn't it?"

Grissom agreed, "Yes, it's breaking up. I'm going to stick it in my pocket."

Young said, "It was a thought, anyways," to which Grissom replied, "Pretty good, though, if it would just hold together." Young then offered Grissom some chicken leg, which he declined. It was the first corned beef sandwich ever eaten in space, and a hilarious example of breaking the rules.