Culture

NASA astronauts parody sci-fi movies (pictures)

Astronauts are already cool, but seeing the men and women who explore space posing as Jedi, "Star Trek" officers and pirates makes us love them even more. Even Robonaut makes a few cameos in these NASA posters.

Bonnie Burton

Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.

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Bonnie Burton

Feb. 14, 2015 1:05 p.m. PT

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NASA explores the Final Frontier

In the latest promotional poster from NASA, astronauts and cosmonauts headed to the International Space Station for their next mission are dressed as Jedi masters. But it's not the first time space scientists have gone sci-fi for a NASA promo shot.

Here, the crew of NASA Expedition 21 is dressed in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" uniforms. The poster is written in an original "Star Trek" series typeface with the Enterprise NX-01 in the background. And yes, there are even two Red Shirts.

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Don't panic! It's just NASA having fun

Since 42 is "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything" in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," the astronauts of Expedition 42 do their best impressions of the cast. Robonaut even appears as Marvin the Paranoid Android.

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More than meets the sky

While no Autobots were around on the International Space Station, that didn't stop the astronauts from celebrating "Transformers" in this parody poster for Expedition 31. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Joseph M. Acaba and ESA astronaut André Kuipers would make the Decepticons think twice about attacking Earth.

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Robonaut makes a great Maria

Astronauts Scott Kelly, Samantha Cristoforetti, Mikhail Korniyenko, Terry Virts, Gennadi Padalka and Anton Shkaplerov, along with Robonaut, pay tribute to Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent sci-fi classic "Metropolis."

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From electronic arena to space itself

The international crew from Expedition 29 shows off its best "Tron" gaming stance.

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Astronauts are strong with the Force

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko and Japan's Kimiya Yui pose as Jedi masters complete with their own lightsabers in this "Star Wars"-themed poster for Expedition 45.

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Whoa! Astronauts free their minds

The team from Expedition 16 looks ready to fight in this parody poster of "The Matrix." Swapping their usual astronaut spacesuits for black leather and sunglasses are Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts and NASA astronauts Garrett Reisman and Dan Tani. They don't need to take the blue pill to see things us Earth-bound folks never get to experience.

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NASA gets the job done

In honor of director Quentin Tarantino's indie crime classic "Reservoir Dogs," the astronauts from Expedition 23 make for a formidable team. We'd plan a heist with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, if they weren't so busy in space.

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Which astronaut is the walrus?

Not all NASA parody posters are geeky. In this case, we see the crew from Expedition 26 showing off its appreciation of the Beatles. Astronaut Catherine Coleman plays the part of a barefoot Paul McCartney in this tribute to the "Abbey Road" album cover. And the usual crossing stripes are replaced with the Roman numerals for Expedition 26.

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Ahoy astronauts!

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov, NASA astronauts Dan Burbank and Don Pettit and ESA astronaut André Kuipers are transformed into pirates complete with hats, eyeliner, eye patches and even a pet monkey in this "Pirates of the Caribbean" homage for Expedition 30.