Snoopy Will Fly To The Moon As An ‘Astronaut’ To Help NASA Test For Microgravity
Image via 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC / NASA
Snoopy will head to the Moon for NASA’s Artemis I expedition in early 2022, but it’s not just for flippant theatrics. The cartoon beagle has been tasked to helm the vital role of a zero-gravity indicator.
The Artemis I lunar mission will be a crewless one, launched to test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft before human astronauts come on board, including the first woman and first person of color to land on the Moon.
For the trip, Snoopy will don a custom orange flight uniform with a NASA patch, as well as his own gloves and boots.
For over 50 years, @Snoopy has helped @NASA inspire generations to shoot for the Moon. Now, #AstronautSnoopy will be catching a ride on the first @NASAArtemis mission as the zero gravity indicator. https://t.co/Y05HC87NZo pic.twitter.com/fEKZeAsi41
— Jim Free (@JimFree) November 12, 2021
As a zero-gravity indicator, his motions will let NASA operators know when the spacecraft leaves Earth’s gravitational pull and reaches weightlessness. Snoopy will be joined by anatomically-correct dummies, what NASA calls ‘Moonikins’, aboard Orion to assess various conditions in space.
NASA and Snoopy go a long way back. Ahead of the Apollo 10 mission in 1969, astronauts sent out a lunar module to “snoop around” for a suitable landing site on the Moon’s surface. The module was thus christened ‘Snoopy’, and its command module (AKA owner) ‘Charlie Brown’.
The agency has also been giving out space-traveled Snoopy silver pins to recognize commendable work of employees and contractors. Artemis I will carry some too, says NASA.
Snoopy flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1990, as well as a Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station in 2019.
With his affable personality, NASA hopes to reach out to aspiring future astronauts and get them interested in space exploration from a young age.
Recognize the spacesuit?#AstronautSnoopy is pictured during a Thanksgiving Parade wearing the Orion Crew Survival System, to be worn by astronauts while inside @NASA_Orion on missions to the Moon.
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) November 12, 2021
Snoopy is heading there himself as a zero gravity indicator aboard #Artemis I: pic.twitter.com/7GJmOuE29q
[via Digital Trends, images via 2021 Peanuts Worldwide LLC / NASA]
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