A Visual History of Cosplaying Astronauts

The astronauts of the upcoming mission Expedition 45, scheduled to take over the International Space Station in fall of2015, have made a bold fashion statement in ​their latest group portrait. Dressed in full Jedi regalia and wielding multihued lightsabers, the crew has raised astronaut cosplay to a whole new level.

Note that American Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren is rocking the red saber, perhaps a hint that he will be repping the Dark Side on this particular jaunt to orbit. NASA's Scott Kelly and Roscosmos's Mikhail Korniyenko, the two astronauts participating in the first year-long stay aboard t​he ISS, stand resolutely on the bottom right, looking like solid guardians of the Force.

Meanwhile, the background is decorated with rockets, capsules, and the station itself. It all hangs together so naturally that I almost expected to see a Millennium Falcon whizzing by in the distance. I hope the Expedition 45 astronauts don't find themselves in the middle of a galactic power struggle, but it's nice to see them dressed for that occasion nonetheless.

You might write this portrait off as the latest display of spontaneous pop culture nerdery from space scientists, akin to Chris Hadfield's zero gravity cove​r of "Space Oddity" or the Wallops Flight Facility's performance of the Harle​m Shake.​

But as it happens, cosplay is becoming something of a time-honored tradition for ISS astronauts. What started as a fun wa​y to memorialize the Space Shuttle program carried over into the crew portrait for Expedition 16 (​2007-2008), in which the astronauts drew inspiration from The Matrix franchise. Behold, Expedition 16: Reloaded.

Dozens of these ISS gag photos have since been released, and the best of the best are assembled below for maximum browsing convenience.

 Expedition 42 crew portrait. Image: NASA

As you can see by this menagerie of portraits, ISS astronauts have hit a lot of major franchises, like Star Trek, Men in Black, and as of this week, Star Wars. But it would be cool to see future crews take on other pop culture favorites like Interstellar, Battlestar Galactica, or Futurama.

Until then, we'll all just have to bask in the glory of Expedition 45's Jedi-style portrait—a reminder that astronauts are not only brainiacs in peak physical condition, they're also hilarious to boot.