R2-D2, the intrepid Star Wars droid with an independent streak, is on his way to the International Space Station.
Three new crew members set to spend five months onboard the station just launched to space, and they're taking a plush version of Artoo with them.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren hung the Star Wars droid from their Russian Soyuz capsule, designed to ferry them to the Space Station. The three crew members should link up with the space outpost late Wednesday, with docking expected at about 10:46 p.m. ET.
Artoo wasn't just along for the ride. He had an important role to play for the two astronauts and one cosmonaut flying to the orbiting laboratory. The stuffed droid helped alert the crew members when they entered a state of weightlessness.
Talismans hanging from the Soyuz, like Artoo, are the first things to float in microgravity, so once the talisman starts bobbing around, the astronauts and cosmonauts know they've made it to space.
Plenty of people took notice of the plucky plush toy on Twitter:
You definitely want to have an R2 unit onboard your spaceship to fix any issues that might come up. pic.twitter.com/eFFkh7fgKI— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) July 22, 2015
Not the first time @starwars’s R2-D2 has boarded a space capsule. pic.twitter.com/RvXHtvDYZV— Steven Young (@stevenyoungsfn) July 22, 2015
Nice try, Scott Kelly, but you can't outdo R2-D2. https://t.co/EFURDDtYHi— Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) July 22, 2015
Please tell me there's a Threepio on the ground watching the launch saying "oh Artoo, please be careful" #Soyuz— Chris Taylor (@FutureBoy) July 22, 2015
The talisman tradition is one of many rituals astronauts and cosmonauts take part in during a space launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Mission controllers also pipe music into the Soyuz capsule for those about to launch to space.