Lightsaber hitchhikes aboard shuttle

0 Comments | USA TODAY, October, 2007 | by Traci Watson

The Force really is with them.

The seven astronauts now in orbit on space shuttle Discovery are carrying a piece of baggage from a galaxy far, far away: a lightsaber used as a prop in the hit movie Return of the Jedi.

In the 1983 film, actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker wielded the lightsaber as he rescued his friends from gangster Jabba the Hutt. The lightsaber handle -- the laser "blade" was created by special effects -- had been stored in the archives of Lucasfilm, the company that created the Star Wars series, until its ride into space last week.

The movie artifact is the latest in a long line of items, from wacky to touching, that U.S. space crews have taken to orbit to be used as souvenirs and gifts once they return to Earth. The tradition...