A new rocket designed to launch humans to the moon, Mars and beyond will launch next year from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On board, will be a familiar fuzzy figure B次元官网网址� Snoopy.

A 5-ounce plush toy version of the daydreaming beagle B次元官网网址� wearing a space suit designed according to NASAB次元官网网址檚 strict specifications B次元官网网址� has an important job for the Artemis I unmanned mission.

NASA uses stuffed animals on flights because when the little guys start to float, it indicates that the spacecraft has entered spaceB次元官网网址檚 zero gravity. Since the toys are soft and light, they wonB次元官网网址檛 break anything or accidentally strike a button.

The Artemis I mission is scheduled to circle the moon and then return to Earth in February as a dry run without astronauts, making sure all systems are working for future crewed missions. Also aboard will be two Lego figurines, part of an educational series.

The upcoming mission announcement coincides with the release Friday of the second season of B次元官网网址淪noopy in Space,B次元官网网址� the Emmy-nominated animated series on Apple TV+. Season one saw Snoopy become an astronaut and land on the moon. Season two sees him go further in what showrunner Mark Evestaff calls an B次元官网网址渆pic road trip.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e have taken a bit of a step further so that Snoopy is able to go to some of these places that we havenB次元官网网址檛 been, like Mars or the moons of Jupiter or visiting an exoplanet,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淎nd he does it through his imagination, but itB次元官网网址檚 also based on actual science from NASA.B次元官网网址�

Stephanie Betts, chief content officer at media company WildBrain, said season one was the perfect foundation. B次元官网网址淪noopy became an astronaut and was able to go to space. Well, now what do you do with that? Well, letB次元官网网址檚 go explore. LetB次元官网网址檚 have that search for life.B次元官网网址�

Back closer to home, the plush SnoopyB次元官网网址檚 gravity-monitoring task B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 officially called the zero gravity indicator B次元官网网址� will be far from the first stuffed toy used by astronauts. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, had a small doll when he launched on Vostok 1.

Since then, an owl doll and an Angry Birds toy have been on the International Space Station, a plush R2-D2 was used as the talisman on a Soyuz mission in 2015 and a stuffed snowman Olaf from the movie B次元官网网址淔rozenB次元官网网址� has gone up. A plush Snoopy has also been on the space station.

Snoopy has a long history with NASA, starting when the Apollo X astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan chose B次元官网网址淧eanutsB次元官网网址� characters as nicknames B次元官网网址� the command module was called Charlie Brown, and the lunar module was Snoopy.

B次元官网网址淪omeone had the idea of trying to bring more interest into the space program. By the time they got to Apollo 10, they felt that the program was going to become a little stale,B次元官网网址� said Craig Schulz, son of B次元官网网址淧eanutsB次元官网网址� creator Charles Schulz. B次元官网网址淔or my dad, it was probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest honor, that could ever be bestowed upon his comic strip.B次元官网网址�

Charles Schulz, for his part, drew strips with Snoopy walking on the lunar surface. B次元官网网址淚 did it! IB次元官网网址檓 first beagle on the moon! I beat the RussiansB次元官网网址� I beat everybodyB次元官网网址� I even beat that stupid cat who lives next door!B次元官网网址� says Snoopy in one.

NASA and B次元官网网址淧eanutsB次元官网网址� have frequently been interwoven. The space agency honors its best employees with the Silver Snoopy Award, and a Snoopy doll was aboard BoeingB次元官网网址檚 CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in 2019.

The plush 10-inch-by-7 inch Snoopy that is being readied for the Artemis I mission was not the kind youB次元官网网址檇 find on a Target shelf. ItB次元官网网址檚 a one-of-a-kind work and painstakingly designed using only NASA-approved materials. Stress-testing it is due in December.

B次元官网网址淭he spacesuit had to meet all the requirements and be of the same quality that the astronauts would be wearing, both in the materials and what got approved. So it was a months-long process of going back and forth and back and forth as they considered all the materials used on the spacesuit,B次元官网网址� said Craig Schulz.

In many ways, the reuniting of Snoopy and NASA in 2021 mirrors the way the two initially worked together to generate interest in space exploration.

B次元官网网址淪pace travel is almost become so normalized now,B次元官网网址� said Schulz. B次元官网网址淧eopleB次元官网网址檚 attention span is a little weak, for the most part. So when you inject some of that entertaining Snoopy, youB次元官网网址檙e going to capture the audience.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press