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The 9 weirdest things ever flown on the Space Shuttle

When NASA's space shuttles launch into orbit, they don't just carry astronauts and supplies into the final frontier. There's a lot of other weird stuff that makes the out-of-this-world journey, too. Here nine recent space oddities carried into orbit on NASA shuttles.

4. Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber

Lucasfilm/NASA
In 2007, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of 'Star Wars,' this lightsaber prop used by Mark Hamill in 'Return of the Jedi,' flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery for two weeks.

  • By Denise Chow SPACE.com Staff Writer

Fans of the iconic "'Star Wars" films celebrated a moment where fiction met reality, when a lightsaber prop from the sci-fi movies flew on the space shuttle Discovery's STS-120 mission.

"The lightsaber's flight was of particular interest to one STS-120 crew member, a self-described big 'Star Wars' fan who also woke during the mission to the theme from the movies," said Pearlman. "The song was chosen by Parazynski's son, who just happens to be named Luke."

One of Luke Skywalker's lightsabers was stowed onboard Discovery as it launched to the International Space Station to deliver a new module to the orbiting laboratory on Oct. 23, 2007. The prop was the original one used by actor Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker, in director George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi."

The lightsaber flew to the space station and back to mark the 30th anniversary of the film franchise. Lucas was in attendance to watch the STS-120 launch, and at the end of the mission, the Jedi weapon was returned to him and his company, LucasFilm.

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