During the final days of her six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has paid tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey by recreating one of the many memorable moments from the classic 1968 movie.
In a clip (below) shared on social media on Saturday, Cristoforetti is seen walking with 2001: A Space Odyssey “grip shoes” inside a part of the space station.
“2022 A Space Odyssey,” Cristoforetti wrote in a tweet that included the video. “Turns out, yes, you can walk with Velcro shoes. Slowly, very very slowly.”
And as a bonus, the footage begins with the rare sight of a spacecraft approaching the ISS before docking. It seems likely that it was filmed from the Crew Dragon spacecraft that brought SpaceX’s Crew-5 astronauts to the orbital outpost last week. The approach is actually very slow, but the video you see here is sped up.
2022 A Space Odyssey. Turns out, yes, you can walk with Velcro shoes. Slowly, very very slowly 😉#ASpaceOdyssey #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/WI69RXmObE
— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 8, 2022
And here’s the Space Odyssey scene that Cristoforetti recreated:
This isn’t the first time the Italian astronaut has drawn on Hollywood hits for inspiration to entertain her one million Twitter followers.
Earlier this year she struck a pose that replicated a moment from the 2013 space movie Gravity where Dr. Stone, played by Sandra Bullock, makes her way through the ISS.
And as both this effort and the Space Odyssey one show, Cristoforetti clearly has an eye for detail, making an impressive job of copying both scenes.
Hey, Dr. Stone! Quick question for you. How did you get your hair to stay put? #AskingForAFriend pic.twitter.com/qztSWnKSfu
— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 19, 2022
When not recreating scenes from famous movies, Cristoforetti has spent the last half year on the ISS working on numerous science experiments in microgravity conditions. She also performed a spacewalk in July, and shared some amazing views of Earth while also showing how the sun sometimes never appears to set for those on the space station.
Cristoforetti and her three fellow Crew-4 astronauts will return to Earth this week.
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