Lightsabers In Space: NASA Does Something Right

NASA Shuttle to Launch Luke's Lightsaber

August 27, 2007 — When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 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 1983 movie "Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". The laser-like weapon is being flown to the orbiting outpost and back in honor of the 30th anniversary of the George Lucas-created franchise.

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Click here for pictures from the Houston arrival of Luke's lightsaber and its departure for the space center.

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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.

This is a bit of cute news. Somehow, I think that NASA should be worrying about bigger things than bringing lightsabers aboard but this *is* a fun thing to do. It seems that someone in the government REALLY loves Star Wars. I remember last year they sent Star Wars action figures up into space. This year we got special stamps and now *the* lightsaber is taking a trip. Star Trek gets no such love. Poor Scotty can't even get his ashes released into space.

Fake Dust From the Moon Needed

The people who need this fake dust is NASA.

Why does NASA keep letting stuff like this come out? First they lost the original tapes from the first "lunar landing". Now they run around telling folks they need fake moon dust.

... and they wonder why the "Web generation" is apathetic towards space travel.

Yes, I know that they found the tapes now and I understand why they need the lunar dust. I guess it's the reporter's fault for wording the headline in such a way that continues to make NASA look like a big joke. There is such a think as bad press in this case.