'Space Gal' Emily Calandrelli launches into the Marvel Universe this week on Disney Jr.'s 'Iron Man' series (exclusive)

"The Space Gal" is blasting off onto her next adventure to promote STEM education with out-of-this-world content.

Science communicator and citizen astronaut Emily Calandrelli, better known to millions of social media followers as "The Space Gal," is bringing her real-world spaceflight experience to the Marvel universe .

Calandrelli is lending her voice to an upcoming episode of Disney Jr.'s animated series, "Marvel's Iron Man and his Awesome Friends." She is stepping into the role of a character called Astronaut Amy in the episode "The Iron Friends in Space," offering another opportunity for Calandrelli to share her enthusiasm for space with younger audiences.

Astronaut Amy meets characters on "Marvel's Iron Man and his Awesome Friends." (Image credit: Disney) Calandrelli is an engineer, author and television host whose career has focused on making complex scientific concepts engaging and accessible.

Growing from her online presence as @TheSpaceGal , Calandrelli has produced numerous educational videos, books and television appearances, including a role on the Netflix "Bill Nye the Science Guy" revival series, "Bill Nye Saves the World." In a preview clip provided exclusively to Space.com by Disney, Calandrelli's character is welcomed by Tony Stark, Riri Williams, Amadeus Cho and Vision as they explore a moon-themed museum display.

The exhibit features a holographic model of the moon and other space-themed artifacts, providing a backdrop for Astronaut Amy to share information about space and lunar exploration.

The show follows younger versions of Stark and others from Marvel's familiar superhero roster, as they navigate conflicts that are scaled down from the franchise's world-ending blockbuster emergencies to more age-appropriate problem-solving and teamwork-building storylines.

Calandrelli's cameo puts her alongside characters already rich in their storylines with backgrounds in science and technology, like Stark and Williams, known by their alter egos Iron Man and Ironheart, both of whose superhero identities revolve around the mastery of sophisticated technology and engineering.

And while Astronaut Amy and her super co-stars live in Marvel's fictional universe, Calandrelli's inclusion in the episode creates the opportunity to introduce some real-life scientific concepts.

Her appearance also comes as Disney prepares to expand the animated series to include a larger ensemble.

Beginning next summer, the show will evolve into "Marvel's Avengers: Mightiest Friends", and bring additional characters into the fold, including Captain America, Hulk, Black Panther, Black Widow and Thor, according to Disney.