Walt Disney World celebrated the return of Buzz Lightyear, the intrepid space traveler who spend more than 15 months onboard the International Space Station. He has the distinction of being the longest tenured crew member aboard. He was given a Ticker-Tape Parade down Main St. U.S.A. along with "Buzz" Aldrin, the second man to step foot on the moon and his fellow crewmate during his stay, Astronaut Michael Fincke.
It was a beautiful day on earth a for the parade, as the first car carrying Buzz Aldrin appeared, Buzz acknowledged the cheering crowds and the second car with Buzz Lightyears' crewmate Mike Fincke rolled by, again with cheers from the crowd. Then it was Buzz Lightyear's turn. Driving his moon vehicle, Buzz led the Main St. Philharmonic Band amid a shower of streamers and ticker-tape to the delight of hundreds of guests. Buzz had returned on September 11th aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-128.
Buzz Lightyears flight stemmed from an idea between Disney and NASA to help spur interest in students and young children to take an interest in studying the sciences, Math, engineering and the latest technology. The parade was followed-up by a fascinating and informative question and answer hour with Astronaut Michael Fincke in the Disney Story Theater. Mike took many questions from the media and guests alike, ranging from how you sleep in space to why the shuttle is being retired. It was intriguing to meet one of our Astronauts' in person.
During the whole period, Mike reminded kids how important education is and how anyone can accomplish anything with hard work and motivation. He announced two new student contests that NASA. The first contest charges kids in Kindergarten to eight grades to develop experiments which will be conducted on the space station. There will be 12 experiments and the winners will see their projects videotaped for their schools.
The second challenge by Disney and NASA will be for students ages 6-12. They will have the chance to design a new mission patch to celebrate Buzz's return from space. The winner of this competition will win a trip to Walt Disney World and a complete VIP tour of the Kennedy Space Center here in Florida. It was a great day for Disney, NASA and Buzz! Will Buzz return to the space station? Only time will tell.
