International Space Station astronauts celebrate Happy New Year 16 TIMES as it orbits the globe at 17,500 miles per hour

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Barry "Butch" Wilmore, left, and Terry Virts, right, sent a special New Year's message on Nasa TV 

Astronauts on board the International Space Station will celebrate New Year's Day 16 times as it repeatedly crosses the globe. 

The 'official' New Year starts on the space ship at midnight GMT which is also known as the Universal Time Clock. 

However, Expedition 42 crew, who are travelling at 17,500 miles-per-hour will pass a point on the earth at the stroke of midnight today a staggering 16 times.  

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Astronauts on board the International Space Station will celebrate the new year 16 times today 

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The ISS travels around the globe at 17,500 miles-per-hour and orbits the world 16 times every day 

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Astronauts on board the International Space Station sent a special message to the world earlier

Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and his crew, which includes NASA’s Terry Virts, Russian cosmonauts Elena Serova, Alexander Samoukutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, say they plan to celebrate with fruit juice toasts. 

The crew are scheduled to have New Year's Day off. 

However, they have been busy with a range of experiments and are preparing for the next delivery of supplies on January 6.  

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This year has been highly successful for the ISS with what is quite possible the world's best selfie