Captain Janeway was the first character to be cosplayed in actual space

When the team behind Star Trek: Voyager cast Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway, they had no way of knowing how iconic this captain would become or the effect she would have on the future of viewers. What started as a risk with a female captain soon became an influence as many women chose to pursue careers in science and space. Even today, Captain Janeway is seen as one of the most unique captains that ever helmed a spaceship, and she has another unique honor...being the first Star Trek character to have been cos-played in space.

Back in 2015, Itallian astronaut Samantha Crisoforetti was aboard the International Space Station obviously looking forward to a cup of coffee. She let her followers on Twitter know how much she was looking forward to the brew by tweeting a picture of herself in a Voyager Star Trek uniform along with a famous line Captain Janeway used in the first season of Voyager's sixth episode "The Cloud." After discovering her ability to have as much coffee as she liked every day was rapidly dwindling, Janeway was elated to learn that a nebula showed signs of omicron particles which could replenish their energy reserves, thereby providing her with an unlimited supply of coffee. And she pointed the ship forward saying, "there's coffee in that nebula."

According to WhatCulture, Cristoforetti was referencing the Dragon space capsule outside the space station which contained the ISSpresso which was the first espresso machine in space. The astronaut's post was met with approval from Star Trek fans, many of whom contributed to the 11,000+ likes it received.

Whether or not Captain Janeway played a part in Cristoforetti's decision to journey to the stars, the character has clearly had and continues to have a major impact for those who want to see themselves exploring space. There aren't many fictional characters that have this kind of an effect in the real world.