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Passengers at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) received an out of this world surprise as members of the Star Wars universe crowded Central Concourse.
Well known characters such as Darth Vader, R2D2, Boba Fett, Storm Troopers, Clone Troopers, an Imperial Guardsman and R6D1 leisurely strolled the concourse as dozens of passengers gathered around to snap photos of them.
The Star Wars gang was there awaiting a certain flight; a flight that was carrying a very important piece of movie history - Luke Skywalker’s Jedi lightsaber.
2007 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars and celebrations are in order.
Southwest Airlines, Space Center Houston and Lucasfilm decided to team up to have the famous movie prop make its way into space with the crew of the space shuttle Discovery in October.
“Southwest Airlines is honored to be the official carrier of the original Jedi lightsaber,” said Heather Douglas, Marketing Manager for Southwest Airlines. “May the flight be with you!”
The journey began at the home of the Lucasfilm in California as Chewbacca handed over the one-of-a-kind lightsaber to Roger Bornstein, Director of Marketing at Space Center Houston.
As the flight touched down at HOU, everyone gathered at Gate 47 to see what all the commotion was about. Storm Troopers escorted Bornstein and the lightsaber to Gate 44 to give onlookers a brief look at the priceless movie prop.
“For many of the visionaries at Lucasfilm, I am told they were first inspired by the numerous far reaching missions of NASA,” said Bornstein. “So, it seems natural that we are here today and together to launch a special mission to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars.”
The caravan of characters along with Commander Quest, Space Center Houston’s mascot, escorted Bornstein and the lightsaber to Hobby Airport’s ground transportation area where a motorcade was waiting to lead the two to Space Center Houston.
Discovery is set to launch on October 23, 2007 on a 13 day mission. After the lightsaber travels into space, it will be on display at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Houston and then return to its home a Lucasfilm. |
