Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber is heading for outer space. The actual lightsaber used by Mark Hamill in the very first Star Wars movie will have a special place aboard the Discovery Space Shuttle when it heads into orbit and docks with the International Space Station this coming October.
This landmark event is being done as part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration for the release of Star Wars, a franchise that spawned two sequels and 3 prequels, television shows and specials, animated features, as well as billions in merchandising, new phrases to the lexicon of human speech and memorable characters that will continue to live on long after many of us who first stood in line 30 years ago to witness this revolutionary and visionary new film that forever changed the way movies would be made.
The lightsaber will be taken from George Lucas, creator of the franchise, escorted to NASA’s Houston Space Center by Chewbacca, R2-D2, police motorcade and under heavy stormtrooper escort. Once under NASA’s control the lightsaber will remain secure in a safe that is used to store moon samples until it is loaded aboard the shuttle for its journey into real space.
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