Space-flown Santa hat on display for holiday season at Kansas Cosmosphere

Wearing Santa hats, astronauts John Grunsfeld and Steven Smith shared a brief celebration on a servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope. The Santa hat is on display at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. (Photo submitted by the Cosmosphere)

TOPEKA — The science behind Santa’s magical ability to traverse the world in one night to deliver toys and joy may always remain a mystery.

But possibly, the jolly old fellow might have picked up a tip or two when his hat took a flight aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during a Hubble Space Telescope mission, called STS-103, in 1999.

Whether the hat has any real magical vibes is up for debate, but anyone who is interested can visit the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson to check it out. 

“STS-103 holds a unique place in spaceflight history as the only one of NASA’s 135 Space Shuttle missions to take place during the Christmas holiday,” a news release from the Cosmosphere said. “To mark the occasion, the crew found small ways to bring holiday cheer with them into orbit, even as they prepared for one of the most important scientific servicing missions ever conducted.”

The Santa hat on display was worn by astronaut John Grunsfeld during a brief holiday celebration on the Space Shuttle Discovery’s middeck, the release said. 

“Grunsfeld and his fellow mission specialists then began their suit-up procedures to carry out a series of critical spacewalks to service and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope,” the news release said. 

STS-103 included three spacewalks and the replacement of key components on the telescope.

The space-flown Santa hat is part of the Cosmosphere’s 13 Days of Christmas activities celebration.