Space Racers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Space Racers
Genre	Animated Children's Educational Science Fiction
Created by	Richard Schweiger and Julian Cohen
Developed by	Allan Neuwirth and Mark Risley
Written by	Allan Neuwirth, David H. Steinberg, Kate Boutilier, David Steven Cohen, Gabe Pulliam, Louise Gikow, Sam Dransfield, Davey Moore, Donna Logan, Phil Lollar, George Arthur Bloom, Angelo DeCesare, Ann Aptaker, Jim Kierstead, Richard Fegen, Andy Yerkes, P. Kevin Strader, Michael Daedalus Kenny, Chad Burke, Julian Cohen
Directed by	Mark Risley
Creative director(s)	David Michael Friend
Voices of	Yuri Lowenthal Meyer DeLeeuw Johnny Yong Bosch Alicyn Packard Melissa Hutchison
Theme music composer	Jody Gray
Opening theme	Jody Gray, Allan Neuwirth, David Cohen
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Julian Cohen, Michael Matays, Charles Matays, Matthias Schmitt, Richard Schweiger, Brenda Wooding
Producer(s)	Space Race, LLC, Mark Risley, Allan Neuwirth
Running time	22–23 minutes
Production company(s)	Space Race, LLC Sesame Workshop (seasons 1–present, uncredited) Atomic Cartoons (seasons 1–present, uncredited) Maryland Public Television (season 1) WNET New York (seasons 2–present)
Distributor	United States PBS Distribution American Public Television (2014–2016) NBCUniversal Television Distribution (2016–present) International Cake Entertainment
Release
Original network	PBS Kids/Universal Kids (U.S.) Knowledge Kids/TVO Kids (Canada)
Original release	Web series: March 22, 2011 (2011-03-22) – April 29, 2011 (2011-04-29) Television series: May 2, 2014 (2014-05-02) – present

Space Racers is an American CGI STEM-focused educational animated television series featuring the cadets of the Stardust Space Academy. The show began as a web series on March 22, 2011 entitled Space Race, then debuted as a television series on May 2, 2014 for public television on PBS Kids. The first season was produced under the auspicies of Maryland Public Television. The second season of Space Racers debuted on October 31, 2016 as a commercial effort on NBCUniversal's Sprout, since rebranded to Universal Kids. The series is produced by Space Race, LLC. and is one of the longest-running series that ran on PBS Kids and Universal Kids. The show features contributions and fundings from NASA involving science and space technology education, and also maintains partnerships with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and U.S. Space Camp.

Even though the show is rated TV-Y7, the show is rated TV-Y on PBS Kids and Universal Kids.

Premise

Space Racers is an educational animated television series. The show follows the Space Racers cadets, a group of anthropomorphic spaceships resembling and named after various species of birds, as they travel the solar system exploring space through assigned missions. The main characters—Eagle, Hawk, Raven, Robyn, and Starling—are cadets at the Stardust Space Academy, and each episode they discover a series of space-based scientific discoveries. The cadets spend each episode traveling through outer space.

Characters

Main

• Eagle (Yuri Lowenthal): A natural fearless leader and very fast cadet at the Stardust Space Academy endowed with much confidence, Eagle is a member and the unofficial leader of the Space Racers. He is also Hawk's best friend. Eagle is naturally competitive and rarely backs down from a challenge, is helped by his intense focus. As the fastest out of all the cadets his age, he can sometimes get a bit overconfident in himself and his skills, and it can go to his head, causing him to become a bit cocky. His natural leadership skills and confidence can also cause him to not listen to others when he thinks that his way is the best way. However, he is not afraid to admit that he has made a mistake and try to correct it.
• Hawk (Meyer DeLeeuw): A powerful and brave cadet at the Stardust Space Academy and a member of the Space Racers. He is also Eagle's best friend. The only thing bigger than Hawk is his heart. He also has the ability to memorize anything that he sees or hears, even if he doesn't understand it!
• Raven (Johnny Yong Bosch): An extremely fast cadet at the Stardust Space Academy who loves to race, Raven shares a healthy rivalry with Eagle, who is regarded as the fastest Space Racers cadet. Raven is always ready to learn new things and help out if needed. Raven can be overly prideful and selfish, which can cloud his judgement and cause him to do things that he doesn't always think through first. However, he will own up to his mistakes and try to put things right in the end.
• Robyn (Alicyn Packard): A very smart cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. Robyn is inquisitive and a keen observer, and loves finding about new things from books. A so-called "whiz kid," she is the best precision flyer on the team, as her knowledge of physics gives her a big advantage. Starling is like a younger sister to her.
• Starling (Melissa Hutchison): A junior cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. While Starling may be small, no one can say she is short of enthusiasm or ambition! She looks up to the older Cadets a lot, especially Eagle, who she wants to be like when she gets older. She also displays a sense of courage that is more suited a rocket twice her size! She is currently in training to become a Space Racer like her friends. Robyn is like an older sister to her.

Recurring

Minor

• AVA (Melissa Hutchison): The academy AI that runs the systems for the Space Academies and assists all Racers with navigation and any questions they may have.
• Crow (Katie Leigh): A junior cadet at the Stardust Space Academy, and Sparrow's best friend.
• Sparrow (Alicyn Packard): A junior cadet at the Stardust Space Academy, and Crow's best friend.
• Headmaster Crane (Phil Lollar): He is the headmaster, and a teacher at the Stardust Space Academy. With years of experience, Crane knows more about space than probably any other craft alive. Quiet and reserved, he is the leader of the Stardust Space Academy, and an accomplished flyer. He is also allergic to flowers as revealed in "The Happiest Rocket in the World".
• Coot (Joseph J. Terry): He is an instructor and professor at the Stardust Space Academy.
• Coach Pigeon (Danny Katiana, season 1, and Rick Zieff, season 2): He instructs cadets in flying techniques at the Stardust Space Academy. He was formerly the famous racer, Swift Starlight, which was revealed by Robyn in "Ace Space Reporter", who discovered the truth about his past and agreed not to reveal to anyone else his identity.
• Sandpiper (Katie Leigh): She is a famous Space Racer and a well-known explorer. She is roughly the same age as Headmaster Crane, Coot, and Vulture, who she attended Stardust Space Academy together with. As revealed in "Hawk's Valentine", she previously had a crush on Headmaster Crane.
• Vulture (Joseph J. Terry): He is chairman of the school board at the Stardust Space Academy. His full name is Rapacious J. Vulture, who is usually referred to by just his last name. He is infamous for making several selfish schemes around Stardust Bay.
• Dodo (Phil Lollar): He is Vulture's bumbling assistant, and helps with all of his schemes.

Other

• Kiwi: A junior cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. Appeared in "Hawk's Valentine".
• Trogon (Danny Katiana): A Russian rocket scientist who works in the crater, the giant warehouse on Mars, and Deep Space Station Gagarin. He also graduated from the Sputnik Space Academy. Appears in "Cranberry Crater", "Great Balls of Fuel", "Return to Sender", and "M is For Meteorite" (pictured).
• Dinky: An assistant robot created by Coot, who once escaped from Coot's laboratory. Appears in "Three Racers and a Baby Robot", "Paint Your Rocket", "Return to Sender", "That'll Teach You!", and "Ships in a Bottle".
• Merlin: A cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. He was "born" with one wing smaller than the other, and rather than getting it replaced, kept it. Appears in "Different".
• Loon (Danny Katiana): The eccentric, energetic, and beloved Senior Chief Engineer at Lunar Base Alpha. He is also referred to by Vulture as the Senior Officer at the moon base, and mentions that he has been working on the base since its construction. At one point Eagle asks him how long ago he was "young", to which Loon estimated the time to be 260 years. Appears in "Loon on the Moon".
• Mallard: Hawk's cousin. Appears in "To Tell the Truth".
• Giotto Probe (Allan Neuwirth): A probe who once tried to help the cadets who were stuck in a Proton storm. Appears in "Them's the Brakes".
• Falcon Fairflight: A famous racer who challenged Swift Starlight to a race. Falcon was another well known racer who raced Swift in the last race of his career. Racing around the moon and back, Swift allowed Falcon to take the lead and then mysteriously disappeared. Falcon ended up winning the race by default. Falcon is also the father of his son, Raven. He currently graduated from the Stardust Space Academy. Appears in "Ace Space Reporter" and "Remember the Past, Discover the Future".
• Kite: He is a cadet at the Stardust Space Academy who was transferred from another school. He originally bullied Crow when he first arrived. Appears in "New Cadet on the Block".
• Fizzy Finchfuzz (Allan Neuwirth): Owner of the Fizzy Fuel Pop Company. Appears in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Galaxy".
• Budgie: She was Hawk's former best friend while growing up, until her family moved away. Mentioned in "The Rocket with Two Brains".
• Sojourner (Katie Leigh): An original rover found on Mars. Appears in "Mars Map Mystery".
• Lark (Kalynn Harrington): A junior cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. Appears in "Space Girl Explorers".
• Magpie: A cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. Appears in "Space Girl Explorers".
• Warbler: A cadet at the Stardust Space Academy. Appears in "Space Girl Explorers".
• Questy: A program on the old Quest-1 satellite. He/She was an old friend of AVA. Questy was male in Season 1, but was made female in Season 2.

Roles

Episodes

List of Space Racers episodes

Broadcast

The show aired on PBS Kids since May 2, 2014 (second-runs since October 31, 2016), and Universal Kids since October 31, 2016 in the United States of America, Knowledge Kids from May 2, 2014 to November 26, 2015, and TVO Kids since November 27, 2015 (only the 2nd season is being broadcast currently) in Canada. The show is also available worldwide on Netflix for the first season, and YouTube for the second season. The series is currently available for online streaming on Viu in Singapore.

International

Country	Network(s)	Language	Foreign Title
United States	PBS Kids Universal Kids	English	N/A
Canada	Knowledge Kids TVO Kids
Worldwide	Netflix YouTube
Hispanic (U.S)	V-me V-me Kids	Spanish	Exploradores Espaciales (Space Explorers)
Argentina	Fox Nat Geo Kids
Brazil	Nat Geo Kids	Brazilian Portuguese	Exploradores Espaciais (Space Explorers)
United Kingdom Europe	Minimax	English	N/A
Malaysia	TV2
France	France 5	French
Poland	MiniMini+ TVP ABC	Polish	Kosmoloty (Spaceships)

Awards

Space Racers has won several awards in children's broadcasting including the American Public Television (APT) Programming Excellence Award in 2014 and a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award in 2015.

Merchandise

Space Racers merchandise was introduced in November 2018. There are vehicle toys, plush toys, T-shirts, and Activity and Coloring Books. Space Racers merchandise is available for view at www.spaceracerstoys.com