Florida ? The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle and station packed up Buzz Lightyear on Monday for the ride home from “infinity and beyond.”

The 12-inch action figure has been at the international space station for more than a year.

Mission Control asked Discovery’s crew to do a final check to make certain Buzz was safely stowed on the shuttle, before the hatches between the linked spacecraft were sealed late Monday night. The shuttle will depart today.

NASA also was tracking another threatening piece of space junk, but did not think the orbiting outpost would have to steer clear.

The Buzz Lightyear toy kept a relatively low profile at the space station following its June 2008 arrival, but was pulled out for extensive filming over the past week. Some of the movie scenes: Buzz going to sleep with an astronaut who lets go, causing the doll to float away and hit a wall, and Buzz flying through a chamber followed by a real spaceman.