Star Wars Lightsaber to Launch With Space Shuttle
The lightsaber wielded by Luke Skywalker, as portrayed by Mark Hamill, in the film Return of The Jedi , will be launched into space for the first time when the space shuttle Discovery lifts off as scheduled on October 23. Along with a new module for the International Space Station, the iconic prop, the original used in the motion picture, will make a round trip journey to the space station to commemorate the30th anniversary of the showing of the first of the “Star Wars” movies, titled Star Wars: A New Hope on May 25,1977.
After a ceremony at Oakland International Airport, attended by an array of “Star Wars” notables, including Chewbacca, Boba, and Jango Fett, the lightsaber was flown to Houston where the droid R2-D2 and a contingent of Stormtroopers escorted it to Space Center Houston, the official Visitor Center for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where it was put on public display in a vault previously displaying moon rocks.. After Labor Day it was prepared for its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA contacted Lucasfilm, maker of the Star Wars movies, in January about sending some item connected with Star Wars into space. A spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd. explained, “We have had a relationship with NASA on a small scale with small events. We just thought we should do something together. It was a no brainer.”
After the lightsaber returns from its mission, the now-authentic space artifact will have flown nearly 6 million miles and will be put on display at Space Center Houston and later returned to Lucasfilm. A NASA certificate will be given verifying the lightsaber’s space journey.
NASA usually does not allot valuable room on shuttle flights for cultural trinkets such as the lightsaber. The last time such an object was taken on a shuttle flight was aboard the Atlantis in September of 2006 when special Monopoly pieces were launched to commemorate the new Monopoly Here and Now game; for the first time a Monopoly game included a NASA property. After the Johnson Space Center in Houston was voted the most distinctive Houston landmark by the American people, it was given an orange property on the board. As a gesture of thanks to the people who had voted for the space agency the tokens were included on the shuttle flight
Julie Kuenstle, spokeswoman for Space Center Houston, where the lightsaber will be put on display, said, “Crew members of past shuttle missions have been inspired by Star Wars. We are considering this a huge honor.”
This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Public Relations, Space Agency News, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
