Lightsaber goes to the space station

I don’t know why, but I feel a disturbance in the Force when I read this article:

NASA shuttle to launch Luke’s lightsaber

From the article: “When the space shuttle Discovery launches the STS-120 crew in October, the force will be with them. Stowed on-board the orbiter, in addition to a new module for the international space station, will be the original prop lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1983 movie “Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. The laser-like weapon is being flown to the orbiting outpost and back in honor of the 30th anniversary of the George Lucas-created franchise.”

Where does the disturbance come from? Perhaps it’s because it is a pure publicity stunt? Perhaps because this stunt serves no useful purpose? Perhaps because the lightsaber is deadweight? Perhaps because this deadweight does not advance science in any way? Assume the lightsaber weighs two pounds. I am sure there are thousands of high school of college students who could design useful science experiments or micro-satellites that weigh two pounds.

Or maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning… Anyway, for more info read How Lightsabers Work