“I was just tickled pink”: NASA Named Asteroids After Tom Hanks and His $355M Movie Director After Inspiring the Spacewatch Member
One of the most well-known and adored performers in the business, Tom Hanks, has proven over the years that he is deserving of admiration and love from the audience. One of the actor’s most enduring performances was in the 1995 American space epic Apollo 13, which was directed by Ron Howard.
After its debut, the film garnered positive reviews from critics, was nominated for roughly nine Academy Awards, and amassed over $355 million in worldwide box office revenue throughout its theatrical run. However, someone other than the audience and the reviewers were quite taken with the actor and gave him one of the most priceless things.
Tom Hanks honored with an asteroid being named after him
According to Space, Astronomer Joseph L. Montani from the University of Arizona discovered Asteroid 12818 Tomhanks on April 13, 1996, but the asteroid wasn’t officially named until later after its orbit was well determined by multiple observations.
Talking about how they named the asteroid after Tom Hanks, Jim Scotti, senior research specialist at the University of Arizona shared with Space, “I started thinking about people that deserved asteroid names. Tom Hanks is a fellow space geek. He grew up with Apollo and man walking on the moon.”
The research specialist explained that he was highly impressed with Tom Hanks’ work on Apollo 13, which was released in 1995 in which the actor starred alongside Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, and Gary Sinise. The movie recounted the aborted 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission. Tom Hanks played Commander Jim Lovell in the movie.
Scotti did not forget to mention Hanks’ HBO series 1998’ From the Earth to the Moon, which is not only hosted but co-produced. He shared with the publication,
“I was just tickled pink with those kinds of programs and was inspired to name an asteroid after Tom Hanks. I also named one after Ron Howard, the director of “Apollo 13” and a co-producer of “From the Earth to the Moon.”
Tom Hanks’ co-star Meg Ryan was honored with an asteroid after her name in 1989
Tom Hanks’ co-star Meg Ryan, who had appeared in three romantic comedy movies alongside the actor and soon the duo became one of the best on-screen couples for the audience, received the honor of having an asteroid named after her in 1989.
Asteroid 8353 Megryan was discovered by Eric Elst at the European Southern Observatory in Chile in 1989 and while providing a citation for naming the asteroid after the actress, Elst said, “Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (Meg Ryan, b. 1961) majored in journalism and later became an actress. She showed her talent in ‘You’ve Got Mail’ (1999).”
Tom Hanks returning as Woody in Toy Story 5?
One of the loved characters of actor Tom Hanks is Woody from the Toy Story franchise and his brother Jim Hanks, who has done voice substitution work as Woody, in a recent interview with ScreenRant seemingly confirmed that Hanks will be returning as Woody, adding that he is not ready to give up the part just yet. He said,
“There’s also word they’re thinking about making more. I don’t know where they’re going to go with it, but those people from Pixar are freaking geniuses, so I’m going to assume it’s going to be something really cool. I remember after four, granted this has changed now, but after four, I was having lunch with Tom, and we were talking about – he thought it was done, he said well, “Woody’s yours now.” “Oh, really? I guess it is, isn’t it? Okay.” Not so much… and he’s back!”
Actor Tim Allen, who voices the character of Buzz Lightyear in the franchise, is reportedly returning for the fifth installment of the movie. After Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed the news of the fifth part of the movie in the works, Allen shared a Tweet that confirms that he is going to be back to voice the popular character Buzz also adding that Woody is also most likely to return. Confirmation from Tom Hanks on returning as Woody is awaiting.
Source: Space
