The Force Is Strong With This International Space Station Expedition

Expedition 45's crew poster is outrageous. Six of the most capable human beings on this planet dressed up like six of the most capable creatures from other planets, Jedi Knights to be exact. Lightsabers, satellites that look like X-Wings and even a straight up Death Star are present. Now if I could only get my Jedi Mind Trick working so that they would take me with them.

As a side note, 50 year old Scott Kelly, the twin of fellow astronaut and husband of Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly, will be staying on the station for a whole year, the longest continuous spaceflight for an American. The extra-long trip is to use Scott as a guinea pig for extended space travel and the effects, both mental and physical, that it can have on a human body, most of which are terrible. He will be compared to his earth-bound twin brother, who will work as a control variable in the experiment.

Data gained from Scott Kelly's long stay will be used to create new technologies and tactics to make traveling to Mars and beyond possible for human beings.

Expedition 45 will blast off in September of this year.

Tyler Rogoway is a defense journalist and photographer who maintains the website Foxtrot Alpha for Jalopnik.com You can reach Tyler with story ideas or direct comments regarding this or any other defense topic via the email address Tyler@Jalopnik.com