Skywalkers Lightsaber To Go Into Orbit

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:51 pm

When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 astronaut crew in October, the force will be with them.

Stowed on-board the orbiter, in addition to a new module for the International Space Station, will be the original prop lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film "Star Wars". The laser-like Jedi weapon is being flown to the orbiting outpost and back in honor of the 30th anniversary of director George Lucas' franchise.

Before it can make its trip to orbit though, the lightsaber will first fly to Houston, Texas, home of NASA's Johnson Space Center, by way of Southwest Airlines and a Star Wars-studded send off from Oakland International Airport in California on Tuesday.

Chewbacca, the towering Wookiee best known from the film as Han Solo's co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon, will officially hand the lightsaber over to officials from Space Center Houston during a ceremony at the airport. Joining "Chewie" will be other characters from the six-part sci-fi classic, including Boba and Jango Fett and together they help push back the airplane on the tarmac.

Once on the ground in Houston, the flight will be greeted by a troop of Stormtroopers and other Star Wars notables including the droid R2-D2, who will deliver the lightsaber to a waiting line of Hummers outside the baggage claim of the William P. Hobby Airport. Accompanied by a police escort, the soon-to-be real space artifact will be driven to Space Center Houston to be exhibited inside a vault that currently displays moon rocks.

Space Center Houston, as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, plans to publicly display the lightsaber through Labor Day, after which it will be prepared for its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The lightsaber is scheduled to depart California at 10:40 a.m. PDT and arrive in Texas at 4:20 p.m. CDT according to a release jointly issued Monday by Southwest Airlines, Space Center Houston and Lucasfilm.

STS-120, targeted for launch on October 23, will be led by commander Pam Melroy and pilot George Zamka. The seven-person crew is completed by mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Doug Wheelock, Stephanie Wilson and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, as well as space station Expedition 16 flight engineer Dan Tani. Besides the lightsaber, their primary cargo is the station's second Italian-built U.S. multi-port node named Harmony.

Well what can I say? I hope that the CSA isn't funding any of this.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:41 am

That's pretty cool!

Post by **Teaos** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:02 am

I can see the fanfiction now. Khan comes across the light saber and challenges Picard to a duel revealing that he is infact his father.

RK_Striker_JK_5 · Post by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:47 am

Teaos wrote:I can see the fanfiction now. Khan comes across the light saber and challenges Picard to a duel revealing that he is infact his father.

...

No, the plot bunnies!!!!!!!

yeah, that is pretty cool news. Although the ceremony... a wee bit overblown.

DSG2k · Post by **DSG2k** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 3:59 am

Yeah, I saw this a couple of days ago after a friend sent me the link.

I just hope the ISS crew remembers not to turn that on. An active lightsaber floating about would cut the place to ribbons.

MetalHead · Post by **MetalHead** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:33 pm

....cool about the lightsaber thing, just ridiculous about the whole ceremony

they gonna have a commentator?

And now, ladies and gentleman, he will hand the lightsaber prop to this fellow in a suit...oh wow, wasn't that fantastic!

RK_Striker_JK_5 · Post by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 5:13 pm

Fully agree, metalhead. That bit's pretty dumb. It's just a movie prop, after all!

A cool movie prop, but still...

MetalHead · Post by **MetalHead** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:01 pm

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Fully agree, metalhead. That bit's pretty dumb. It's just a movie prop, after all!

A cool movie prop, but still...

Its like when they interview an actor/actress who plays such a tiny roll and gives you a whole cheesy speech about how great everything was and how it was so much fun developing the character. and you know their full of it.

MetalHead · Post by **MetalHead** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 7:02 pm

RK_Striker_JK_5 wrote:Fully agree, metalhead. That bit's pretty dumb. It's just a movie prop, after all!

A cool movie prop, but still...

Its like when they interview an actor/actress who plays such a tiny roll and gives you a whole cheesy speech about how great everything was and how it was so much fun developing the character. and you know their full of it...hahaha, I bet Lucas was like 'Im tired of this thing collecting dust, get rid of it.'

but sir! you're george lucas!

alright, make it epic...

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:53 pm

Wow! Very cool!

Agreed that the ceremony is a bit over the top.
Still...