Luke Skywalker’s original Jedi lightsaber film prop from Return of the Jedi makes its way into space (for real) with NASA astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery in October. To commemorate the historic event, Star Wars characters visited the Oakland International Airport where Chewbacca handed the lightsaber over to NASA’s Space Center Houston during a special ceremony on Aug. 28, 2007.
Arriving by Escalade and Hummer stretch limos (the Falcon’s in the shop) Boba Fett, Jango Fett, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, X-Wing pilots, Jedi and stormtroopers (from the Golden Gate Garrison of the 501st Legion) accompanied Chewie for the fun-filled press event which took quite a few travelers and tourists in baggage claim by surprise. NASA’s Space Center Houston Director of Marketing Roger Bornstein greeted the intergalactic guests and warmly thanked everyone’s favorite Wookiee for bringing him Luke’s lightsaber.
“On behalf of NASA’s Space Center Houston, we’re proud to take temporary possession of this great American movie icon, Luke Skywalker’s original Jedi lightsaber,” Bornstein says. “It’ll be trusted into the care of Southwest Airlines and transported to Space Center Houston where it will be held in inventory on the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-120. During the launch scheduled on Oct. 23, 2007, Luke’s original Jedi lightsaber will take its rightful place in space for a mission to the international space station.”
“When the mission is complete and the Jedi lightsaber has traveled almost six million miles it will then be on display at the Space Center Houston and later returned to Lucasfilm,” Bornstein continues. “To paraphrase the famous Han Solo, ‘We’re all clear kids, now let’s load this thing and go home.’” (He was paraphrasing and using his own words so it made since to LOAD the plane with the lightsaber, not BLOW it up.)
To send off the spectacular departure of the lightsaber aboard its Southwest Airlines flight, Chewbacca helped push back the airplane on the tarmac, with his friends, bounty hunters and stormtroopers looking on. The group waved goodbye as the plane set course for Houston.
Once the flight lands in Houston, stormtroopers (from the Star Garrison of the 501st Legion) will escort the lightsaber off the plane as R2-D2 (from the R2 Builders Group) and other Star Wars characters (from Rebel Legion) kick-off the second half of the celebration in William P. Hobby Airport. The fanfare concludes outside baggage claim where the lightsaber is transported via Hummer with an official City of Webster police escort to NASA’s Space Center Houston where it will be on display through September 4, 2007.
Be sure to check out our Official Star Wars Flickr Blog for our photos from the event complete with Rebel pilots mingling with Southwest Airlines pilots, Chewie on the tarmac, and stormtroopers helping with security.
Stay tuned to the Official Star Wars Blog for more on the special event.
Tags: NASA, Science & Tech, The 501st Legion
[...] Update: There’s a more extensive article here. [...]
Hmm… I’m jealous of a movie prop. Never thought that’d happen.
[...] Chewie Hands off Lightsaber to NASA « The Official Star Wars Blog [...]
[...] of Star Wars, NASA is about to put what may be the ultimate Coolest Gadget into Orbit … Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age, the most famous scifi prop in movie history was given [...]
[...] As Star Wars celebrates its 30th Anniversary, Luke Skywalker
I was on hand at Hobby airport in Houston this afternoon to help receive this item with my 501st brothers and sisters. We had a fantastic time visiting with the public, taking pictures, and helping ‘protect’ this LFL treasure. Thanks to the great folks at LFL, Southwest Airlines, Space Center Houston, the R2 Builders Club, and the friendly and efficient secutirty staff at Hobby airport for a fun and historic troop!
well its done for now. if only october would come faster.
[...] just in case [...]
I can’t wait to see the pictures of the crew playing with the lightsaber unless we stow in one of the hidden cargo compartments. I am just happy that Lucasfilm and NASA continue a relationship started back before EP I.
[...] Check out the full article here [...]
#1 on Keith Olberman’s Countdown tonight.
We covered the arrival of the lightsaber at Houston Hobby on Tuesday and posted some of our pics from the event here: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082807a.html
[...] Link to story, here are more photos on Flickr. [...]
[...] Gedanke hat was. Und dass Chewbacca himself das original Lichtschwert von Luke Skywalker zur NASA gebracht hat, die das Teil in den Weltraum bef
[...] of Star Wars, NASA is about to put what may be the ultimate Coolest Gadget into Orbit … Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age, the most famous scifi prop in movie history was given [...]
You guys are hilarious. Congrats to LFL and the 501st for making another spectacular event.
I saw some coverage on ABC World News Now this morning and I thought the anchors were going to lose it. (Although Ryan was very confused and kept asking, “Where’s Chewbacca?”)
I hope the astronauts are allowed to take it out of storage and float it around the cabin.
[...] oficialmente el “arma” para ser embarcada. El blog oficial de Starwars hizo una cr
Soo cool!!! Wish I coulda seen the news coverage. Oh, well.
[...] Skywalker
[...] you hear that Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber will be carried into space on the shuttle Discovery in October? In a ceremony yesterday, Chewbacca (accompanied by various [...]
the quote is.. “lets BLOW this thing and go home” not load.
That’s “STS-120,” not “SDS120″
I have pictures and video of everything that happened in Houston at http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2007/08/star-wars-at-hobby-airport.html
and
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=sci_tech&id=5614470
The quote is..
I just wanted to thank thank “bonniegrrl” and the rest of the folks at LFL for allowing us members of the Golden Gate Garrison and Rebel Legion to participate on the Oakland side of the event. (BTW – I’m the X-WING pilot in these pics)
It truly was an honor and a priviledge to participate on something this historic.
I’m still giddy about this whole surreal experience. Just to mingle with “actual” pilots was a moment in itself.
…Speaking on the above comments of the NASA spokesperson, let’s see if anyone here notices a flub, based on the news video below:
http://kutv.com/topstories/topstories_story_240084205.html
[...] Chewbacca, Boba Fett, and many of the other characters you treasured until George Lucas decided to embark on his misguided prequel odyssey were at NASA today, to present the space shuttle people with Luke Skywalker’s original Jedi lightsaber, scheduled to take a six million mile trip in October on Discovery. [starwarsblog] [...]
Im gonna go into space and steal that baby!
Aunque no hablo ingles se que la Serie de STARWARS es la mejor asi como Lucas Films, les felicito lastima que en latinoamerica no halla algun lugar para disfrutar de su serie, me gustaria que en Colombia halla un lugar para su serie thanks
as cool as this is, the firefly fans beat us by 2 flights. course they just got DVD’s left on ISS.
http://www.breakingatmo.com
Kewl. Have light saber, will travel. cheers, mel.
[...] mile trip to the International Space Station before it’s return trip to Earth. According to StarWarsBlog: Luke Skywalker
SKYWALKER’ S LIGTHSABER IN THE SPACE???, OHH YEAH!!!, BUT ALSO NOT INCLUDES THE OBI WAN’S PONCHO AND DARTH VADERS HELMET!!!!
How do we know that this is the real prop and not a MR version?
I doubt they would hype it up if it was the MR version. now for some of the publicity shots they did with R2 prior to STS-118’s launch they used the MR version. I can assure you though that the plan is to fly the original prop on STS-120.
It’s an authentic lightsaber prop from the film. Trust me. We don’t send MR replicas into space.
[...] Chewbacca, Boba Fett, and many of the other characters you treasured until George Lucas decided to embark on his misguided prequel odyssey were at NASA today, to present the space shuttle people with Luke Skywalker’s original Jedi lightsaber, scheduled to take a six million mile trip in October on Discovery. [starwarsblog] [...]
Am I the only person who’s catching that that’s NOT Luke’s Original Lightsaber? That’s the lightsaber he built before Return of the Jedi to REPLACE his original.
By original I believe it means NOT A TOY. As in original movie prop.
At first, i thought this was a joke. Now that I know it’s true… Only confirms my beliefs that it’s time to shut down NASA and spend the money on schools or New Orleans or something else. What’s NASA given us since TANG and Velcro???
It never ceases to amaze me how under informed the general public is on the benefits of the space program or just how much we(NASA) do with such few dollars. For the $16 Billion annual budget that NASA receives it is less than $0.25 per day for each taxpayer. How much more do most people spend on their Dunkin or Starbucks coffee each morning? As for $ per benefit I recommend you check out http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html and http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/ Maybe we haven’t been advertising the commercial spin offs, but space is our future and we will continue to inspire the next generation as only NASA can.
Plus this similar to the Jamestown plaque that was taken up on STS-117, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first English colony, historical/cultural artifact. The shuttle never takes the full payload capacity and small items like this help raise interest in the space program as well as add flight ballast.
Gee… I whish I could go up there with the lightsaber!
Way cool!!!!! Lucky lightsaber……
No love given for us guys in Houston who picked it up..LOL
Actually a lot of love was given to the Houston crew (major news outlets covered it and you can see links to many of the Houston stories here in the comments). But since I was only reporting from Oakland, I couldn’t do a first-person account from Houston.
Well it looks like they got the information wrong again. Thier article states that the other SW characters and R2-D2 are from the Rebel Legion. HA. The rebel Legion wasn’t even there. All the Characters except for the two droids and the Jedi were from the 501st Legion. The Jedi and droids were from the R2 Builders Group. Had any of the reporters actually talked to the 501st or R2 builders guys, they would have had the right information
And this is a first person account as I was the Jedi and had my R6-D1 there along with Joe H’s R2-D2 and belong to the R2 Builder Group and I talked to the 501st guys quite a bit.
Way cool? Lucky lightsaber? were have you been this real proof of a light saber jedipug you need to lighten up
omg!!!! chewy in a hummer, NOW ive sceen it all!!!!
If was a REAL Light Sabre, the shuttle as we know it would be HISTORY the moment some clown turns the Blade on, and so would anyone present when the holder gets a fright. Thank Goodness its only a Dummy!
Also, it looks funny seing Chewie and the others in pictures with our very Primitive Technology. That is, Planes, The Shuttle, and Cars, etc. Not a Repulorlift Transport (Lambda Shuttle, Sentenal Class Shuttle, X-Wing, TIE-Fighter, Viper Remote, etc.) in sight. How embarrassing!
wow 47 comment(now 48) i beleive thats a new record for this blog bonnie. oh the video screw up he said luke walker. can we get a count down made untill its actually in space.
Sure. Luke Walker. He’s just some shmo from Oakland who happened to be there. Maybe he worked at the airport, or something.