Buzz Lightyear and astronauts' mementos returning from space to inspire kids, public

Buzz Lightyear, mission mementos returning to Earth (STS-128 OFK)

September 9, 2009

— Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) Tuesday with six NASA astronauts, one European Space Agency (ESA) mission specialist and a Star Command Space Ranger for the trip back to Earth.

Yes, that's right, Buzz Lightyear is on his way home.

The animated astronaut has been on a real space mission in the form of a 12-inch tall action figure since launching last year aboard Discovery's STS-124 mission, as part of an educational partnership between NASA and the Walt Disney Company.

Buzz is returning with the STS-128 crew, including space station flight engineer Tim Kopra who spent 44 days living on the ISS. By comparison, Lightyear will have logged 467 days in space, assuming that the weather in Florida does not delay his scheduled landing on Thursday evening.

That is a record, says Disney, pointing out that Lightyear's stay surpasses the longest duration space mission set in 1995 by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov by a month.

During his time on-board the station, with the help of his crewmates, Lightyear has been the star of recorded videos that are aimed at exciting children about spaceflight, while teaching them the basics of working in weightlessness.

A similar goal is shared for other items returning with the STS-128 astronauts. Although in space for less time than Buzz, just 13 days, the astronauts each packed items to thank those who supported them while helping promote the role space exploration plays back on Earth.

Toys and games

Buzz Lighyear is not the only toy aboard Discovery.

STS-128 pilot Kevin Ford, making his first flight, brought a seven-inch model of the space shuttle for his elementary school and as a Hoosier, a model car for the Indianopolis Motor Speedway in Indiana.

Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who coincidentally combined both of Ford's items in the form of candy he flew for his crewmates, chose among his mementos a chess piece for the Swedish Chess Academy.

The wood-carved knight, like the shuttle and car models, were stowed inside the STS-128 Official Flight Kit, a duffle bag-sized container of souvenirs flown at the request of the astronauts and the space agency. The items it carries remain out of reach of the crew for the length of the flight.

Which is why Fuglesang, who also flew a mini frisbee, was unable to best his own record on this mission. Once a Swedish national frisbee champion, Fuglesang on his first flight in 2006 set a record for "time aloft" by floating a spinning frisbee for 20 seconds aboard the ISS.

With his chess piece and frisbee out of reach, Fuglesang devised other means of sharing a game from space.

>Challenging the public to a chess match, Fuglesang built a board on the back page of mission checklist.

"I needed some kind of chess board and so I made it out of Velcro for myself," he explained in a pre-flight interview with collectSPACE. Using blue and yellow hook-and-latch squares, Fuglesang affixed paper pieces that he moved in response to e-mailed challenges.

As of Wednesday, the Swedish media was reporting that Fuglesang's rook, guarding his queen, might be in trouble.

"I am kind of a good amateur player," Fuglesang said of his own abilities. "When I was a teenager, I played for two years in a club and did a bit of competition, but I never raised above average."

Flying the flag

Fuglesang is not flying the white flag to surrender just yet, though the completion of his chess match, which began before he launched, may not come until after he lands. He is however, flying the Swedish flag.

The blue and yellow banner, which is also featured on the STS-128 crew's mission patch, is among a collection of flags inside the Official Flight Kit.

"I am flying a couple of flags," shared Jose Hernandez, whose family were Mexican migrant workers. "One is for a squadron from Mexico that participated in World World II. They asked me to fly their squadron's flag. I am flying a Mexican flag that I will present to President Calderon when I return."

Danny Olivas, who like Hernandez is a mission specialist of Mexican descent, chose to highlight another country's role in his youth.

"The country of Bhutan and my alma mater, University of Texas at El Paso, share an affiliation. The architecture at UTEP is all Bhutanese architecture and so the country, their government, and UT El Paso have a pretty close relationship and so in discussions with the folks at UTEP and with representatives of the country, we were able to get a flag."

Ford, in addition to packing models, brought a flag for one of his schools, the Air Force Institute of Technology.

"Although they have graduated many astronauts, I do not think they had ever had anything ever offered to them. So I am flying their flag and they are going to hang it back in their entry way and make a little note underneath about their contribution to the astronaut corps," said Ford.

For astronaut Pat Forrester the chance to fly a flag was even more personal.

"During the training for this flight, my father passed away. He was my biggest fan, loved space, loved NASA. So he was 30 years with the military, a West Pointer just like me and he was buried at Arlington [Cemetery] in September. And the honor guard that did his service, I am flying their guidon and will present that back to them when I get back, just a way of thanking them for the way that they honored him in his burial."

Homecomings

As Forrester mentioned, the crew members will embark on tours of the country, and to Sweden and other international destinations, to return the items they flew.

"Hopefully, [these items] will serve as motivation for kids and for people who are part of the organization that once presented to them, will say 'Hey, if they did it, why can't I do it?'" said Hernandez.

One such opportunity is set for early October when Disney plans a ticker-tape parade at the Magic Kingdom in Florida to welcome Buzz Lightyear back to Earth, together with several of his NASA space station crewmates.

Buzz Lightyear aboard space shuttle Discovery (Disney/NASA)

Astronaut Christer Fuglesang with his Velcro chess board. (ESA)

The STS-128 Official Flight Kit Manifest

The following is the STS-128 Official Flight Kit manifest, as provided by NASA. Inventory numbers that are missing indicate items that were removed prior to launch.

No.	Description	Sponsor/Purpose

1.	625 STS-128 crew patches 75 Expedition 21 patches	Agency Presentation
2.	800 Small United States Flags	Agency Presentation
3.	5 Sets U.S. States & Territories Flags	Agency Presentation
4.	5 Sets United Nations Members Flags	Agency Presentation
5.	20 Small Texas Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small POW/MIA Flags 5 NASA Patches 2 Texas Lapel Pins 1 Bronze NASA Seal Medallion 1 Silver Shuttle Pendant	Agency Presentation
6.	Small Flags of the Following States: 10 California 10 Texas 10 Indiana 10 Virginia	Agency Presentation
7.	Small Flags of the Following Countries: 20 Mexico 10 Isle of Man 5 Sweden 2 Bhutan 2 Norway 2 Denmark 2 Finland	Agency Presentation
8.	10 Each Small Military Flags: U.S. Air Force U.S. Army U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Marine Corps U.S. Navy	Agency Presentation
9.	10 Small United States Flags 10 Small Alabama State Flags	Marshall Space Flight Center Presentation
10.	10 Small Louisiana State Flags 10 Small Mississippi State Flags 5 Small NASA Flags 5 Small United States Flags	Stennis Space Center Presentation
11.	2 Small United States Flags 2 Small Florida State Flags	Kennedy Space Center Presentation
12.	140 Silver Snoopy Pins	Space Flight Awareness Presentation

13.	25 EVA Patches	Agency Presentation
14.	10 STS-128 Crew Patches 10 Small U.S. flags 10 DoD Space Test Program Patches 10 Det 3 Human Spaceflight Support Office Commander Coins 100 HICO-RAIDS Payload Decals	DoD Presentation
15.	20 Constellation Pins	Constellation Program Office Presentation

16.	25 COD Patches	Center Operations Directorate Presentation

17.	25 Mission Operations Patches	Mission Operation Directorate Presentation

Items 18 through 64 are manifested at the request of the STS-128 crewmembers.

18.	35"x56" Gold and Navy Flag	Patriot Guard Riders, Houston, TX

19.	36"x60" State Flag	Indiana State Senate, Indianapolis, IN

20.	48"x72" Navy and Gold Flag	Air Force Institute of Technology, West Point, NY

21.	2.5" Green Ceramic Airplane	Nortre Dame Aerospace Engineering, Notre Dame, IN

22.	Gold "Class of 1978" Medallion with Ribbon	Blackford High School, Hartford City, IN

23.	South Bend Radio Control Patch	South Bend American Model Assoc., South Bend, IN

24.	7.5" White "B" Band Letter	Blackford Bands, Hartford City, IN

25.	2.5" Red Model Car	Indianopolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN

26.	7"x5" White Space Shuttle Model	Montpelier Elementary School, Montpelier, IN

27.	4"x5" Indiana State Flag	City of Montpelier, Montpelier, IN

28.	Gold Class of 1979 Medallion	U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY

29.	19.5"x29.5" Navy and White Pennant	The Old Guard, Arlington, VA

30.	6.5"x6.5" Metal Airplane Hardware	Mission Aviation Fellowship, Nampa, ID

31.	Gold Unit Medallion	4th Battallion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Savannah, GA

32.	Blue and White Stripe Square Unit Patch	3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA

33.	6"x8" Orange Plastic Plaque	University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

34.	Black, White and Red Team Jersey	The Durban Sharks, Durban, South Africa

35.	Gold Astros "Defending Freedom" Medallion	Houston Astros, Houston, TX

36.	36"x51" Maroon and White Flag	Wounded Warrior Foundation, Arlington, VA

37.	23"x26" Green, White and Red Flag	Survivors of Squadron 201, Mexico City, Mexico

38.	City Lapel Pin	City of Stockton, CA

39.	35"x57" Red, Black and White School Flag	University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA

40.	Red, White and Blue Ribbon	League of United Latin American Citizens, Stockton, CA

41.	37"x60" Orange, Gold and White Flag	Kingdom of Bhutan, Bhutan

42.	36"x60" Green and White School Banner	Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, Rochester, NY

43.	Congressional Medallion	16th Congressional District, Washington, DC

44.	13"x19" Green, Gold and Navy Pennant	U.S. Border Patrol Museum, El Paso, TX

45.	17.5"x22" Purple and White Chapter Pennant	Alzheimer's Association National Office, Chicago, IL

46.	9"x11" Purple and Silver Chapter Pennant	Alzheimer's Assoc., Houston and Southeast Chapter, TX

47.	13"x15" Maroon Centennial Seal Felt Piece	Drew School, San Francisco, CA

48.	36"x60" White and Blue Flag	National Renewable Energy Lab, Golden, CO

49.	36"x60" Green and White Banner	Oyster-Adams Bilingual School, Washington, DC

50.	36"x60" White and Blue Flag	HENAAC, Los Angeles, CA

51.	Silver Carved Spoon	Sametinget, Kiruna, Sweden

52.	9.5"x15" Black and Gold Pennant	Kungliga Operan, Stockholm, Sweden

53.	Nobel Peace Prize Medallion Replica	Norsk Romsenter, Oslo, Norway

54.	24"x36" Navy, Blue and Gold Team Flag	Djurgardens IF Football, Stockholm, Sweden

55.	4.5" Round Yellow Felt Piece	CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

56.	6"x9" White Swedish Olympic Pennant	Sveriges Olympiska Kommitte, Stockholm, Sweden

57.	Gold "Christoph Polhern" Medallion	Sveriges Ingenjorer, Stockholm, Sweden

58.	2"x5" Carved Wooden Knight Chess Piece	Svenska Schackakademien, Stockholm, Sweden

59.	"Wargentin" Medal	Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien, Stockholm, Sweden

60.	7"x9" Miniature Orange Life Jacket	Sjoraddningssallskapet, Gothenburgh, Sweden

61.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

62.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

63.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

64.	Gold Astronaut Pin	Agency Presentation

Items 65 through 86 are manifested at the request of the Space Shuttle Program Office and Payload Customers.

65.	320 8.5"x11" Sheets of Bookmarks	Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Presentation

66.	50 TriDAR Patches	SSP Presentation

67.	75 TriDAR Labels	SSP Presentation

68.	150 17A Mission Patches	International Space Station Program (ISSP) Presentation

69.	150 17A Logo Pins	ISSP Presentation

70.	150 17A Logo Placards	ISSP Presentation

71.	30 Treadmill "T2" Patches	ISSP Presentation

72.	4 Colbert Treadmill Patches	ISSP Presentation

73.	30 Crew Quarters Patches	ISSP Presentation

74.	30 FPS Patches	ISSP Presentation

75.	30 TOCA Patches	ISSP Presentation

76.	200 4"x6" MSRR-1 Flags	ISSP Presentation

77.	30 FCF Patches	ISSP Presentation

78.	10 LMM Patches	ISSP Presentation

79.	37 LMM/CVB Labels	ISSP Presentation

80.	3 ROI Labels	ISSP Presentation

81.	12 EuTEF Pens w/o Ink	ISSP Presentation

82.	100 MPLM Logo Patches	ISSP Presentation

83.	105 MPLM ASI Patches	ISSP Presentation

84.	200 (4"x6") MPLM Flags	ISSP Presentation

85.	250 CMC Patches	ISSP Presentation

86.	250 CMC Pins	ISSP Presentation