BB-8 Sent Into Space to Capture One-of-a-Kind Images

To celebrate the release of the upcoming The Last Jedi, a group of scientists banded together to use a balloon to send a BB-8 toy into outer space to capture some extraordinary images. You can check out the footage of what the droid discovered below.

Toys have always been an integral component of the Star Wars franchise, going all the way back to the original release of the 1977 film. Following the announcement that The Force Awakens would revive the franchise, a slew of new toys and collectibles came out featuring the latest technological advancements.

To celebrate The Force Awakens, a marketing event, known as "Force Friday," saw the debut of all of the latest merchandise that would be hitting shelves to celebrate the revival of the series. Fans saw action figures, plushes and a variety of apparel honoring the sequel, but one of the more unique items was a BB-8 toy released by Sphero, which you could control with your phone.

The droids seen throughout the first six Star Wars films featured variations on familiar molds, but BB-8, who many first referred to as "Ball Droid" before learning its name, looked entirely unique for the galaxy far, far away. A droid that was a sphere made perfect sense in the Star Wars world, but the ability for a piece on top of the sphere to remain centered while it rolled showed off an all-new sense of physics.

Making BB-8 even more exciting was that fans could take the technological innovation into their homes to wander around their house, although it was an expensive way to celebrate the love of the droid.

Luckily, BB-8's screen presence in The Force Awakens justified the elaborate collectible, becoming an adorable partner to both Rey and Poe in the film, including a few interactions with C-3PO and R2-D2.

This year's Force Friday II helped confirm that there will be plenty more BB-8 in the upcoming sequel, in addition to a similar-looking droid that belongs to the First Order, known as BB-9E.

We'll see more of both BB units when The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.

[H/T Daily Star]