Space Station astronauts watched 'The Last Jedi' from orbit 240 miles above Earth
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station watched Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi while in orbit about 240 miles above Earth on Saturday.
A picture posted to Twitter from NASA astronaut Mar. T. Vande Hei shows five of the six current occupants of the station gathered around a screen, watching what appears to be a scene from the latest addition to the Star Wars franchise.
Although Vande Hei doesn't specify that the movie is The Last Jedi, space.com pointed out that the image on the screen appears to show X-wing pilot Poe Dameron, played by the actor Oscar Isaac. Isaac played the same role in The Force Awakens, but we're pretty sure this is a scene from the newest film.
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NASA previously said the Space Station crew would be able to screen the new film using a laptop or a projector already aboard. Usually, the crew obtains films as digital files.
"They typically get movies as digital files and can play them back on a laptop or a standard projector that is currently aboard," NASA's Dan Huot told Mashable on Dec. 13. The Last Jedi opened in theaters on Dec. 15.
Watching films onboard the ISS is part of regular life aboard the orbiting laboratory. The Space Station has a digital library of films, including space-based sci-fi like Aliens and Gravity.
Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year aboard the ISS beginning in 2015, revealed more about what movie night is like in a zero gravity environment during his extended stay in orbit.
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So far there's no word on what the astronauts thought of the porgs.
Topics Star Wars
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
