NASA starts 'Buzz Lightyear' challenges

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- NASA and Disney Parks, which collaborated to take toy space ranger Buzz Lightyear into orbit, are now starting two educational efforts involving Lightyear.

The 12-inch-tall action figure spent more than 15 months aboard the International Space Station, returning to Earth Sept. 11.

"Buzz's historic spaceflight is a great example of spreading the excitement of space exploration (to) students around the world," said Joyce Winterton, NASA's assistant administrator for education. "We hope our space station crews and Buzz will continue to spark student interest in the space station and its scientific potential."

One educational effort is the Mission Patch Design Challenge, NASA said. Students ages 6-12 will have the opportunity to design a patch to commemorate Lightyear's mission and his accomplishment of being the longest serving space ranger. The student with the most creative mission patch and 100-word essay will win a tour of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and a trip to Walt Disney World Resort. NASA will fly the winning patch into space and then present it to the contest winner.

The other project involves the Micro-g Experiment Challenge. Students in the fifth through eighth grades are encouraged to devise experiments to be conducted aboard the space station. The 12 winning experiments will be performed by the end of the school year and videotaped for the winning schools.