Star Wars fans make their mark on the International Space Station – Metro

(Picture: Andrei Borisenko via 501st Legion Russian Outpost Facebook page)

The 501st Legion, also known as Vaders First, is an international group of fans who create and wear the costumes of Star Wars villains.

Now it seems theyve made their mark on space and a picture has emerged to prove it.

When theSoyuz MS-02 spacecraft headed off to orbit and dock with the International Space Station on October 20 last year it carried not onlythree members of the Expedition 49 crew (cosmonauts commanderSergey Nikolayevich Ryzhikov and flight engineers Andrei Borisenko and American astronautRobert S Kimbrough) but, apparently, also a very special and unique cargo.

Travelling 118 kilometers over 173 days and completing 2768 orbits of planet Earth, this cargo was not only relevant to the mission itself, but also to Star Wars fans across the globe.

According to the 501st Legion Russian Outpost Facebook page, Borisenko took the above picture of a patch.

The patch in question was designed by the 501st Legion Russian Outpost, which covers the Russian Federation and its 19 members.

The 501st is spread across the planet, from the smallest garrison the 27 strong Czech Garrison to the largest, the 739 strong German Garrison.

There are 11,453 members worldwide, and in 2016 they raised nearly 694,000 for a variety of charities worldwide.

The 502-strong UK Garrison logged 42,000 man-hours of community service and raised over 31,000, the largest contribution in Europe.

Its not the first time a Star Wars-related item has gone into space.

Forgetting Ronald Reagans infamous Star Wars strategic defence initiative, back in 2007 Luke Skywalkers original lightsaber from Return Of The Jedi headed north and into space onboard the Space Shuttle, STS-120.

Launching from the Kennedy Space Center on 23rd October 2007 the shuttle orbited Earth 238 times during its 15-day mission.

Day 12 saw the main Star Wars theme blast out for the days wake up call and the lightsaber stowed safely for the length of the mission before being displayed at Houston Space Center.

With the return of the saga to worldwide prominence it surely cant be long before an item from the new series of films makes its way into space.

Maybe the International Space Station will one day boast Kylo Rens lightsaber, or the dice from the Millennium Falcon.

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Star Wars fans make their mark on the International Space Station - Metro