Chiba Institute of Technology

There are some famous space-related weapons in the world of fiction, including lightsabers and Sokka's meteorite sword from the animated television series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Now there's a real sword that could give Thor's hammer Mjölnir some competition when it comes to space cred.

Tentetsutou ("Sword of Heaven") is a katana created by Japanese master swordsmith Yoshindo Yoshiwara. Any well-crafted katana, or traditional Japanese sword, is a blade of beauty, but the Sword of Heaven is extraordinary due to its materials. The blade is forged from a fragment of the massive Gibeon iron meteorite that landed in Namibia in prehistoric times. The meteorite is estimated to have formed around 4 billion years ago.

The Sword of Heaven is now on permanent public display for the first time at the Chiba Institute of Technology at the Tokyo Skytree tower. It sits alongside a piece of the Gibeon meteorite.

"It is thought that the first human encounters with iron were with iron meteorites, and the Sword of Heaven truly symbolizes the relationship between human technology and space," the Chiba Institute notes.

The sword joins a select group of modern weapons made from meteorites. The material isn't cheap. Master swordsmith Tony Swatton from the online series "Man at Arms" forged an "Avatar: The Last Airbender" replica sword by mixing a $1,652 chunk of meteorite with steel to create the blade.

Chiba Institute of Technology

(Via Technabob)