Disney Parks and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) today celebrated Buzz Lightyear's cosmic achievement as the
longest tenured crew member in space with a ticker-tape parade down
Main Street, U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort.
Some of Buzz's new friends, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin and
International Space Station Expedition 18 astronaut Michael Fincke,
attended.
After living his dream of space travel, Buzz Lightyear returned to
Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery STS-128 on Sept. 11, following
more than 15 months of dedicated service onboard the International
Space Station (ISS). The 12-inch-tall action star flew to space as
part of an education initiative between Disney Parks and NASA to
encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics.
"Buzz's historic space flight is a great example of spreading the
excitement of space exploration to students around the world," said
NASA's Assistant Administrator for Education, Dr. Joyce Winterton.
"We hope that our space station crews and Buzz will spark student
interest in the International Space Station and its scientific
potential."
"We can't thank our partners at NASA enough for bringing Buzz
Lightyear home from space to his family, friends and fans here at
Disney Parks - after all, this was his dream come true," said
Duncan Wardle, vice president, Disney Parks. "He was certainly
missed and deserves a hero's welcome!"
Coinciding with the celebratory parade, NASA announced two new
student contests and conducted special educational experiences in
the park, including fun and informative discussions with NASA
astronauts.
The ISS Student Experiment Competition challenges students in
5th-8th grade to devise experiments to be conducted aboard the
space station. The winning 12 experiments will be performed by
future station crew members and videotaped for the winning schools.
More information on the competition is available at
www.NASA.gov/BuzzonISS.comhttp://www.disneyparks.com/buzz.
Disney Parks and NASA today also launched an online Mission Patch
Design Challenge that will run from Oct. 2-Nov. 6. Students ages
6-12 will have the opportunity to design a mission patch to
commemorate Buzz's return aboard shuttle Discovery and his
accomplishment of being the longest-serving toy in space. The
student with the most creative mission patch and 100-word essay
will win a trip to Walt Disney World Resort and a VIP tour of
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. More information on the
Mission Patch Design Challenge is available at
DisneyParks.com/buzz.
NASA and Disney today also launched a new online game as part of
the Space Ranger Education Series, both at
http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub. The series includes fun, educational
games for students, as well as materials for educators to download
and integrate into their classroom curriculum.
Buzz Lightyear is the intrepid space ranger toy from the
Disney-Pixar films "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2." Originally
released in 1995, "Toy Story" was the first fully computer-animated
feature film, which earned director John Lasseter a Special
Achievement Award (Oscar®) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences. Both films chronicle the comedic adventures of a
group of toys that come to life when humans aren't watching. Buzz
is one of the beloved toys of child-owner Andy, along with the rest
of Andy's toy gang, including the likeable cowboy Woody, Mr. and
Mrs. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky Dog, Hamm, Jessie the cowgirl and
Bullseye the horse.
Buzz isn't just returning home. He returns to the big screen
alongside Woody and the rest of the gang, this time in Disney
Digital 3D(TM). Disney-Pixar's "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" 3-D
double feature hits theaters today (Oct. 2) for a limited two-week
engagement. The Disney Digital 3D "Toy Story" celebration
culminates next summer in a brand new adventure starring Buzz and
Woody: "Toy Story 3" - in theaters June 18, 2010
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