Poster MKS-45

No, this is not a poster for the seventh episode of Star Wars, which is being prepared for rental at the end of this year. This is a promo of the real future crew of the International Space Station. By clicking on the image, a larger original is available, there is also a 64 MiB PDF file .

The astronauts and astronauts on the poster are holding lightsabers of different colors in their hands and are dressed not in the usual blue overalls, but in the mantle of the Jedi. Against the background, there are some real and fictional spacecraft, including the European Space Agency's ATV truck, similar to Crusader .

The start of the 45th expedition is scheduled for September 2015, when the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft arrives on the ISS with Sergei Volkov, the Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen and space tourist Sarah Brightman. In October, a few days after arrival, Mogensen and Brightman will return to Earth on the Soyuz TMA-16M, along with Gennady Padalka.

Other 5 members of the 45th expedition will be waiting at Volkov station: Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui, Chell Lindgren, Mikhail Kornienko and commander Scott Kelly. The last two will spend a whole year on the ISS, together with Volkov they will arrive on Earth only in March 2016 in the capsule of the Soyuz TMA-18M. This annual experiment is a very important milestone in the study of the biological effects of a long-term space flight, which is vital for a manned mission to Mars. NASA does not forget about its long-term plans, which means landing a man on the surface of the red planet. But the expedition 45 itself will change its number to 46 already in November after the arrival of Soyuz TMA-19M.
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Such images are not a novelty for the ISS missions, NASA often publishes parody posters, trying to draw public attention to its work, and with it the sympathy of the government agencies responsible for funding the space agency.


ISS-16 , 2007, parody of the " Matrix "


ISS-21 , 2009. This is not the first picture inspired by the “ Star Track ”; it is enough to recall the photos of STS-54 or STS-90 .


ISS-26 , 2010


ISS-29 , a parody of the poster of the film " Tron: The Legacy "


ISS-30 , 2011, parody of " Pirates of the Caribbean "


ISS-31 , 2012. Hereinafter " Robonavt " is visible.


ISS-40 , 2014


Current ISS-42


Future ISS-43

Posters - this is not the first case of the geek combination of the work of the space agency NASA and the Star Wars universe. In 2007, Discovery Shuttle carried the original sword, which Mark Hamill waved on the set of the film “Return of the Jedi”. So celebrated the 30th anniversary of the George Lucas franchise.


Astronaut James Riley poses with a sword and R2-D2

Another attribute of any space launch is stripe, and due to the secrecy of some agencies, the interpretation of the meaning can be difficult, as happens with the logos of the US military-space intelligence .