[News Figures] Why Was Snoopy Selected as the US Moon Exploration Team Mascot?

US's First Lunar Survey Ship Named 'Snoopy'
Orion Probe to Launch in February 2023
Assigned to 'Zero-Gravity Indicator' Mission Floating in Space

Snoopy doll representing the 'Zero Gravity Indicator' released by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) / Photo by NASA website capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The American national cartoon character 'Snoopy' has been selected as the forerunner for the lunar probe launching next year. The Snoopy doll will serve as the so-called 'zero-gravity indicator,' floating in midair to signal the spacecraft's exit from Earth's gravitational field and entry into weightlessness.

On the 10th (local time), NASA unveiled a Snoopy doll dressed in an orange spacesuit. Snoopy is a beagle dog character who first appeared in the comic book 'Peanuts,' published in 1950 by American cartoonist Charles Monroe Schulz, and has become a national character in the United States. When the Snoopy doll appeared on NASA's YouTube channel that day, enthusiastic responses in many languages, including English, flooded the comment section.

The Snoopy doll will board the lunar probe spacecraft 'Orion' scheduled for February next year, along with a mannequin. The flight next year is a test launch conducted before actual astronauts board, as part of NASA's manned lunar exploration project 'Artemis Program,' which is being promoted for the first time in about half a century.

First Appeared in the 1950 Comic 'Peanuts'... An Imaginative Beagle Character

Snoopy officially first appeared in the 'Peanuts' comic published on October 4, 1950, just two days after the comic series began. Originally, he was just the pet dog of the main character 'Charlie Brown,' but with his unique cute design, he surpassed the protagonist and captured readers' popularity.

Snoopy, a character appearing in the comic book 'Peanuts' published by famous American cartoonist Charles Monroe / Photo by Wikipedia capture

In the story, Snoopy is portrayed as a dog with a rich imagination, often spending time playing by imitating specific people he imagines. The image of Snoopy sitting on the roof of his doghouse wearing a helmet, goggles, and an Air Force pilot scarf, deeply engrossed in pretending to pilot an airplane, is one of the most widely recognized images of Snoopy today.

The NASA Reconnaissance Vehicle Named Snoopy That Helped Apollo 11’s Moon Landing

Snoopy also has a deep cooperative relationship with NASA. Snoopy actually visited the moon once with humans half a century ago. On May 18, 1969, the command module of the spacecraft 'Apollo 10,' which departed from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and headed to the moon, was named 'Charlie Brown,' and the lunar surface reconnaissance vehicle was named Snoopy. The Snoopy, carrying two astronauts, completed its lunar surface survey and safely returned to the command module. Later, Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon’s surface, completing humanity’s first lunar exploration.

An employee at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo 10 mission in 1969 working with a Snoopy doll placed nearby. / Photo by Kennedy Space Center website capture

Since then, the Snoopy doll has accompanied NASA astronauts on several space missions. During the launch of the US space shuttle 'Columbia' in 1990, astronauts also brought a Snoopy doll as a zero-gravity indicator.

Using a cloth doll as a zero-gravity indicator is a long-standing tradition in spaceflight. It is said to have originated when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin carried a small cloth doll aboard Vostok 1 during humanity’s first spaceflight in 1961 to gauge the weightless state. A soft cloth doll poses no risk of causing impact damage to people or equipment as it floats inside a weightless spacecraft.