Becoming an astronaut truly is one of the greatest achievements for a scientist. The NASA selection process is one of the most competitive in the entire world. The agency most recently selected new astronauts last year, in 2017. The demand was overwhelming, as NASA received 18,300 applications for just 14 spots. That’s an acceptance rate of less than one percent. By comparison, Harvard’s acceptance rate in 2014 was 5.9%.

So you’d think that simply becoming an astronaut would be honor enough. Not exactly! Since 2000, the agency has taken a photo of every flight crew that’s gone into space. These photos were your standard publicity photos, meant to hang on the agency’s walls for posterity. But in more recent years, the astronauts have gotten bored with taking the same photos over and over. Instead they’ve been photoshopped into various movie posters.

Turns out, everyone likes to pretend to be a heroic space adventurer…even people who are exactly that in in real life. Here are 15 NASA mission photos that prove astronauts are huge dorks, just like the rest of us. (via Bored Panda.)

 

1. Expedition 21 (Star Trek)

Photo Credit: NSA

21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station, 2009.

2. Expedition 22 (The Rat Pack)

Photo Credit: NASA

22nd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, 2009.

3. Expedition 42 (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)

Photo Credit: NASA

42nd mission to the International Space Station, in 2014.

4. Expedition 29 (Tron)

Photo Credit: NASA

29th long-duration mission to the ISS, 2011.

5. Expedition 43 (Metropolis)

Photo Credit: NASA

43rd expedition to the ISS, 2015.

6. Expedition 40 (Firefly)

Photo Credit: NASA

40th expedition to the ISS, 2014.

7. STS 124 (Harry Potter)

Photo Credit: NASA

NASA Space Shuttle Discovery mission to the ISS, 2008.

8. Expedition 16 (The Matrix)

Photo Credit: NASA

9. Expedition 23 (Reservoir Dogs)

Photo Credit: NASA

23rd long-duration mission to the ISS, 2010.

10. Expedition 45 (Star Wars)

Photo Credit: NASA

45th mission to the ISS, in 2015.

11. Expedition 26 (Beatles Abbey Road cover)

Photo Credit: NASA

26th long-duration mission to the ISS, 2010.

12. STS 131 (Armageddon)

Photo Credit: NASA

Discovery Mission to the ISS, 2010.

13. Expedition 30 (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Photo Credit: NASA

30th long-duration to the ISS, 2011.

14. Expedition 31 (Transformers)

Photo Credit: NASA

31st long-duration mission to the ISS, 2012.

15. Expedition 38 (science theme)

Photo Credit: NASA

38th expedition to the ISS, 2013.

 

 

h/t: Bored Panda