Image of the day: NASA’s newest astronaut crew pose as Jedi Knights, older crews think they’re aboard SS Enterprise

Somehow, amidst its position on the forefront of groundbreaking research in astronautics, resource development, thermodynamics, material science, geoscience, and damn near every category of science under the sun (or microscope), NASA has somehow managed to retain that life-enhancing sense of humor familiar only to those acquainted with the “nerdy” side of life. NASA, ye fountain of human ingenuity, I applaud thee for reminding us, that a cranny of humor can be found in all things, including perilous missions into space.

The six astronaut featured in the exquisite image below are part of NASA’s Expedition 45, destined to rendezvous aboard the International Space Station this upcoming September, when a Soyuz shuttle ferries the remaining four astronauts aboard (two are already aboard). In preparation for their reunion, the six astronauts — one Japanese, two American, and three Russian — donned their most famous Star Wars cosplay attire, completing the ensemble with six lightsabers. 

Okay, maybe the lightsabers were photoshopped into the image, or maybe they weren’t; there’s a high probability that the sabers were actually tangible, if the robes themselves are real.

Clockwise, from the bottom left to right, the astronauts are: Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren, Kimiya Yui, Oleg Kononenko, Sergey Volkov, Mikhail Kornienko, and Commander Scott Kelly.

Other sci-fi related NASA posters include Expedition XXI’s take on Star Trek .

And Expedition 42’s rendition of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy movie poster.

Source Gizmodo via NASA