ISS Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Becomes First Person to Wear a Star Trek Uniform in Space

The Italian astronaut Samantha "Sam" Cristoforetti has answered the fervent prayers of both Trekkers and Trekkies over the past two decades by becoming the first person ever to wear a Star Trek uniform in space.

The historic event that will live in the annals of Trekdom forever took place April 17 as Cristoforetti, dressed in the Star Trek uniform, captured the supply laden SpaceX Dragon freighter using the famous robotic Canadarm of the International Space Station.

Among the 4,000 lbs. of supplies aboard the Dragon was an Italian made espresso machine, the "ISSpresso" that was an answer to the prayers of the six astronauts of Expedition 42 for real Italian coffee.

Cristoforetti took a selfie of herself wearing the red and black uniform of an officer of the USS Voyager, the starship featured in the Star Trek spin-off TV series, Star Trek: Voyager that ran from 1995 to 2001.

Apart from being the first Italian woman in space, Cristoforetti also became the first person ever to wear a Star Trek uniform in space. She seems to have chosen the uniform from Star Trek: Voyager because the hero of this series is a female. Captain Kathryn Janeway, played by actress Kate Mulgrew, was the commander of the starship USS Voyager.

Cristoforetti is a captain in the Italian Air Force and is a fighter pilot. She turns 38 on April 26 and Star Trek fans hopes she dons the iconic uniform again on her birthday.

She's a flight engineer and arrived at the ISS in November 2014. She will return to Earth this May.

Cristoforetti, however, isn't the first ISS crewmember to don a Star Trek Uniform. That honor went to all the six astronauts of Expedition 21 who wore the uniforms of the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) in a poster celebrating the crew before it boarded the ISS in October 2009.

None of Expedition 21's crew, however, wore the TNG uniforms while aboard the ISS. TNG ran from 1987 to 1994.