Buzz Lightyear has become the longest-serving astronaut in history.

The 12-inch Toy Story doll spent 15 months in orbit - 30 days more than any human. He was filmed floating weightless on the space shuttle Discovery and at the International Space Station as part of a Nasa programme to get kids to study science.

Buzz was waved off by Disney co-star Woody for a six-month mission in May 2008. He was such a hit he stayed on, and finally returned to earth on September 11.  His 467 days in space beats the 1994 record of 437 held by Russian Valeri Polyakov.

He will get a hero's parade at Disney World, Florida, next month, with Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin - the second man on the moon - guest of honour. Disney's Todd Heiden said: "The programme worked well."

Guest of honour for a doll... how the mighty are fallen!


The conspiracy theorists went wild.

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