We emerge in a well-lit California living room in front of an older man with a graying goatee and a familiar voice.

In addition to publishing the videos on the State Department’s various channels, Hamill will also cross-post the series on his own Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, where he has a combined 11.7 million followers.

Hamill, who, in addition to his iconic performances as Luke Skywalker, is also a prolific voice actor in numerous animated features (and Ukrainian air raid alerts, apparently), naturally makes a lot of references to Star Wars in the video series.

This leads to a discussion about “a real — if nascent — tricorder has been developed on the International Space Station.” The handheld devices aren’t able to “magically detect everything from unknown life forms to the nature of a crew member’s illness,” but they can identify microbes — bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye — growing throughout the International Space Station.

Other quips from Hamill include likening working out in space to “training with Yoda on Dagobah” and a discussion of robots on the ISS reminding him of his days “fixing up droids on Tatooine.”

And the State Department is clearly hoping to capitalize on his involvement to steer more attention to its own efforts to promote not just the ISS but also the Artemis Accords, which were signed in 2020 by the US and seven other countries.

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