Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut currently on the International Space Station, is the first person to actually wear a Star Trek uniform in space. She donned Capt. Kathryn Janeway’s uniform from Voyager to welcome SpaceX’s Dragon freighter on Friday.
Cristoforetti posted a picture on her Twitter page, showing her in the familiar Federation uniform, pointing out the window to the Dragon freighter. “‘There's coffee in that nebula’... ehm, I mean... in that #Dragon,” she wrote.
The image has gone viral, racking up over 6,300 retweets and 7,900 favorites.
The “coffee” she was referring to is the ISSpresso machine that was on the freighter. The Huffington Post notes that the machine was developed by Italian firm Argotec and Lavazza. This is the first coffee machine that can work with the microgravity on the ISS.
The Daily Mail points out that Cristoforetti is surprisingly the first astronaut to don a Trek uniform in space. That’s certainly surprising, since NASA has had a great relationship with the Trek franchise. Astronaut Terry W. Virts even did the Vulcan salute as tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy.
Cristoforetti has been on the ISS since November and is expected to come home in May.
"There's coffee in that nebula"... ehm, I mean... in that #Dragon. pic.twitter.com/9MYrqIOXnI
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) April 17, 2015
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