U.S. #5712
2022 60¢ Go Beyond – Buzz Lightyear Standing, Feet Not Visible
Issue Date: August 3, 2022
First Day City: Los Angeles, CA
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 45,000,000
In the world of Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear started out thinking he was a real "space ranger," but later found out he was actually a toy. However, in the real world, the story ended up being just the opposite. Buzz Lightyear was a toy that really did go to space.
In 2008, NASA and Disney Pixar launched a real Buzz Lightyear action figure into space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. Buzz was taken to the International Space Station where he orbited the Earth for 15 months, setting a new mission duration record. He was also used in several zero-gravity experiments and even participated in a space walk.
Pixar's chief creative officer and founder, John Lasseter, said of the event, "I started crying when Discovery connected to the International Space Station. There's a tube that the astronauts go through to get into the space station. They didn't carry Buzz. They opened his wings, they put his arms out, and Buzz Lightyear flew, in space, himself, up that tube into the International Space Station."
On March 29, 2012, Lasseter donated the Buzz Lightyear that went to space to the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. It was a fitting tribute to the iconic character as well as a reminder to children of the exciting possibilities of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).