Topic: Luke Skywalker

Kepler epitaph? Eight most intriguing finds of troubled telescope.

Kepler, the space telescope designed to help us find other Earth-like planets, is on the fritz. Scientists hope they will be able to fix it remotely, but if they can't, its brief, brilliant career could be over. Here are eight of its most important discoveries.

Culture Cafe Carrie Fisher says she'll return for a new 'Star Wars' movie

Carrie Fisher recently said she could confirm her return as Princess Leia Organa for a new 'Star Wars' movie. Will Carrie Fisher come back for the entire new trilogy or only one movie?

Culture Cafe Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are 'talking' with 'Star Wars' insiders about appearing in new movies, says Hamill

Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, who starred in the original 'Star Wars' trilogy, are discussing appearing in the new movies, according to Hamill. Carrie Fisher starred as Princess Leia Organa, while Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker.

Lego Racism? Muslim Turks complain about Jabba the Hut

Lego racism? Turks in Austria say Lego's Jabba's Palace set looks like a mosque. And Lego's Star Wars villian Jabba the Hut perpetuates racism and prejudice toward Muslims among children who play with Legos.

Toy Hall of Fame inducts Dominoes, Star Wars

Toy Hall of Fame's newest inductees include Dominoes and  action figures of Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and the rest. 10 other finalists, including Magic 8 Ball and the board game Twister, did not make the cut for the Toy Hall of Fame. 

Culture Cafe 'Star Wars: Episode 7': Harrison Ford open to returning for a new film, sources say

Unnamed sources are saying 'Star Wars' actor Harrison Ford is 'open to the idea of doing the movie.'

Culture Cafe 'Star Wars: Episode 7': How Disney could avoid ruining 'Star Wars'

'Star Wars: Episode 7' is coming, whether we like it or not. I don't – but the news about 'Star Wars: Episode 7' may not be all terrible.

Bizarre alien 'Tatooine' orbits two suns, in four-star solar system

The alien planet, called PH1, is a gas giant planet slightly bigger than Neptune.

Tatooine-like planet: Astronomers spot pair of planets orbiting twin suns (+video)

Tatooine-like planet: In a cosmic first, astronomers have discovered two alien planets orbiting two stars, not unlike Luke Skywalker's home planet in the Star Wars films.

Chapter & Verse 'Star Wars' novels: still on bestseller lists

The newest 'Star Wars' novel, 'Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse,' holds the No. 8 slot on the New York Times bestseller list. Success has become the norm for the books.

Hubble telescope spots new class of planet: a steamy 'waterworld'

The planet GJ 1214b is a watery planet covered in a thick, steamy atmosphere, a new study of Hubble data suggests.

Scientists discover a real-life Tatooine orbiting two suns

But there are probably no jawas, moisture farmers, sand people, banthas, dewbacks, womp rats, sandcrawlers, a Pit of Carkoon, nor a strange old hermit who lives beyond the Dune Sea. 

Why 2012 could be the year we find a habitable planet

Other than the one we're currently living on, that is. As discoveries of alien planets accelerates, the discovery of an "alien Earth" could be just over the horizon. 

Tatooine for real? Scientists confirm planet orbiting two suns.

Tatooine is the mythical home of Luke Skywalker. Now, scientists have identified a planet in a binary system 200 light-years away, although the planet is more like Saturn in mass and makeup.

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. NASA's last space shuttle mission will launch Friday, July 8 on the Atlantis orbiter to deliver spare parts to the International Space Station. The mission will be the 135th and last flight for the program, which began in 1981. But over the course of 30 years, the space shuttles have flown some peculiar objects into orbit. The list of odd stuff that flew aboard the shuttles is a long one, and includes the Olympic torch, a replica of the golden spike from the First Transcontinental Railroad, and rocks from the top of Mount Everest and the surface of the moon, just to name a few. Here nine recent space oddities carried into orbit on NASA shuttles:

Star Wars enters a new frontier: e-books

The entire library of Star Wars fiction will become available in e-book format later this summer.

Does America need a full-size, fully functioning AT-AT? Do we even need to ask?

The grassroots 'AT-AT for America' project proposes building a fully functional Imperial walker. Needless to say, Lucasfilm's lawyers aren't crazy about the idea.

Color me black? Alien planets with two suns sprout dark trees.

If Tatooine had trees, would they be black? Scientists say that a planet with two suns might have black or gray plants, not green. Why is that?

Star Wars fans ask NASA to build a hyperdrive

Star Wars fans want NASA to develop faster-than-light travel, so that humans can visit other star systems. After all, in the 'Star Wars' universe, the technology was developed a long time ago, in a galaxy far away.

How 'Star Wars' changed everything

From household robots to bionic hands to CNN holograms, the world is looking more and more like that galaxy far, far away.

Lightsaber lawsuit: What lightsaber would George Lucas pick?

Lightsaber lawsuit threat is withdrawn by Lucasfilms against a portable-laser manufacturer. So which is the best replica of the Star Wars weapon?

Obama tries Jedi mind trick to get economic stimulus package passed

Review: 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

New series of animated 'Star Wars' adventures retraces old ground with the same leaden dialogue as the originals.