Snoopy debuted in a Peanuts comic strip in 1950, and over the years he grew in popularity and became a staple of popular culture. About ten years after the creation of NASA in 1958, the space agency and the people behind the famous beagle began a collaboration that continues to this day. Snoopy already went to space in 1990 and now he will return aboard NASA's Artemis I (a next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket) on his first flight mission.
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NASA's collaboration with Snoopy
The collaboration between the space agency and the beloved cartoon beagles dates back to the days of the Apollo program. Snoopy's portrait was even used for the Silver Snoopy Award, which was presented to agency employees and contractors by astronauts to celebrate achievements related to the success of space missions and the safety of human spaceflight. .
This initiative was launched in the hope that the cartoon's involvement in the space agency would spark children's interest in NASA and its activities. The idea was that this would inspire children to become interested in science or engineering and become the explorers of the future.
Why is Snoopy heading to space?
In all rockets equipped with a crew capsule, there is a weightlessness indicator (which is usually a stuffed toy brought aboard the rocket by a crew member), used to signal to astronauts that they have left the Earth's atmosphere and will now experience weightlessness.
This time around, Snoopy will once again be acting at the zero-g indicator, but this time he will be the lone member aboard the ship. Although there will be no crew aboard the SLS rocket when Snoopy makes his journey into space, cameras will be installed in the capsule so that flight engineers can see exactly when the rocket launched. freed from the gravitational pull of the Earth.
Peanuts Worldwide senior vice president Melissa Menta said that for Snoopy's next mission to space, her team “wants to go all out” and make sure the beagle is properly prepared for his journey. The toy that will be placed on board the spacecraft will therefore be dressed in a complex suit designed on the model of the spacesuit worn by NASA astronauts and made from the same material.
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The first time Snoopy went to space
In 1990, Snoopy flew his first mission to space with his five human crewmates aboard the shuttle Columbia during mission STS-32, during which the crew deployed the military communications satellite Syncom IV-F5 (also known as Leasat) and recovered NASA's LDEF (Long Duration Exposure Facility).