Thanks for spending my money

In case any of us were in doubt about the fact that the government has no idea how to prudently handle our money, NASA is sending a light saber into space with the next space mission. Not only did they acquire the original light saber used by Mark Hamill in the first Star Wars movie, they are flying it to Houston on Southwest Airlines. (Wait a minute, doesn't the government own their own planes? I think we might have paid for one or two....)I'm sure we will also be paying for an additional ticket(s) for the person(s) responsible for accompanying this movie prop all the way from California. (We couldn't just stick the thing in a box and mail it through the United States Postal Service for $7.95. I'd be okay with that.)

And we couldn't send anything off into space without giving it a proper sendoff. That's right, we're throwing it a party.

Chewbacca, the towering Wookiee best known from the film as Han Solo's co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon, will officially hand the lightsaber over to officials from Space Center Houston during a ceremony at the airport. Joining "Chewie" will be other characters from the six-part sci-fi classic, including Boba and Jango Fett and together they help push back the airplane on the tarmac.

Once on the ground in Houston, the flight will be greeted by a troop of Stormtroopers and other Star Wars notables including the droid R2-D2, who will deliver the lightsaber to a waiting line of Hummers outside the baggage claim of the William P. Hobby Airport. Accompanied by a police escort, the soon-to-be real space artifact will be driven to Space Center Houston to be exhibited inside a vault that currently displays moon rocks.

Wookies, bounty hunters, stormtroopers, and droids....how much do you reckon this is costing us? I can think of better things to do with that money. NASA could actually use the money to figure how to build better spacecraft, perhaps the kind that doesn't get damaged on lift-off. Better yet, if they have too much money, they could give it back to the taxpayers. This isn't what I envisage my money being used for when I pay taxes. A new bridge, a repaved highway, even some social services...okay. But wookies and stormtroopers? I don't think so...