NASA’s unofficial ambassador: Snoopy doubles as space agency’s longtime symbol for safety - Houston Chronicle

In her 30 years working for NASA in both Houston and Washington, D.C., Alotta E Taylor has seen her share of change.

White spacesuits were swapped for updated orange ones. Astronauts’ days-long shuttle missions turned into months aboard the International Space Station. Funding has been increased, cut and increased again.

While much is different, Taylor, who serves as the director of strategic integration and management for NASA’s Human Exploration & Operations Mission, said one thing has remained constant: the space agency’s affection for Snoopy.

Since the 1960s, the Peanuts character has served as an unofficial ambassador for NASA, gracing promotional posters and serving as the namesake for two Apollo 10 modules. His name even is attached to one of the agency’s most prestigious awards.

“People love Snoopy like they love the astronauts,” Taylor said. “Put them together, and it has staying power.”

The Silver Snoopy Award

Origin: The award was created as part of an industry-wide safety program in the wake of the Apollo 1 tragedy in 1967 that killed three astronauts.

Purpose: The prize is awarded by astronauts to employees or contractors who made significant contributions to flight safety and mission success.

Elite honor: The award is a coveted commendation bestowed on fewer than 1 percent of NASA employees and contractors.

To the winner: Recipients receive a tiny, sterling silver pin — each of which has traveled to space — a commendation letter and a certificate. The pins depict Snoopy carrying an old-fashioned oxygen case, ears flopping beneath his clear bubble helmet.

Peanuts creator Charles Schulz began penciling space-exploration themes into his comic strips as early as 1959, most showing Snoopy in a zippered space suit with his head squeezed into a clear helmet.

Snoopy’s relationship with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration began when George Mueller, associate director for manned spaceflight, decided there was a need for an industry-wide safety program after a fire swept through the command module of a Saturn rocket during a launch rehearsal in 1967, killing astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee and Virgil “Gus” Grissom.

Mueller enlisted the help of Al Chop, a marketing official with the program, to find a symbol that had “a little spark,” according to Houston Chronicle archives.

Enter Snoopy.

After all, of all the Peanuts characters, Charlie Brown’s beagle arguably was the most qualified to be an astronaut. One of his most well-known alter egos was as the World War I Flying Ace, facing the notorious Red Baron in aerial combat.

“Snoopy was eminently qualified. He is a watchdog. Astronauts are snoops in exploring space and the moon,” Chop told the Chronicle in May 1969. “And, Snoopy was the only dog with flight experience, even if it was from the top of his dog house.”

A coveted commendation

Chop created the Silver Snoopy Award, a prize awarded by astronauts to employees or contractors who made significant contributions to flight safety and mission success. It is a coveted commendation bestowed on fewer than 1 percent of NASA employees and contractors.

Recipients receive a tiny, sterling silver pin — each of which has traveled to space — a commendation letter and a certificate. The pins depict Snoopy carrying an old-fashioned oxygen case, ears flopping beneath his clear bubble helmet.

Vaneza Lopez was honored for restarting a supply chain that had been dormant for more than 20 years. Her pin flew aboard Space Shuttle Mission STS-102, which launched March 8, 2001, and was piloted by James “Vegas” Kelly, who gave her the award. Lopez, who acts as a liaison between the space program and manufacturers as a material program manager for NASA contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, said she was surprised to find Kelly and her family waiting in a conference room to give her the award.

“I had heard of the Silver Snoopy in the past,” Lopez said. “I wasn’t familiar with the history of ‘why Snoopy’ until I read the pamphlet that came with it.”

In the 1960s, it was not just the award that made Snoopy synonymous with NASA. Posters of the black-and-white dog lined the hallways in space centers across the country, encouraging employees to keep safety at the forefront of their work while inspiring excitement for the moon mission. Photos from that era show Apollo astronauts rubbing a stuffed Snoopy doll’s nose as they walked down the catwalk for missions.

The connection became so pervasive that astronauts and employees on the Apollo 10 mission, which preceded the moon landing, named their lunar module Snoopy and the command ship Charlie Brown.

Looking ahead

Melissa Menta, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Peanuts Worldwide, said Schulz was honored by NASA’s use of his characters.

“I think he thought it was the ultimate sign of patriotism, although it wasn’t just a U.S. initiative — it was a global initiative to get to the moon,” Menta said. “He couldn’t believe Snoopy was part of it.”

NASA is looking to revive the relationship ahead of the planned Artemis missions, which aim to send people to the moon again by 2024.

Already, Peanuts Worldwide has created promotional posters for the new mission. Earlier this year, it rolled out a Peanuts-themed curriculum to primary school teachers to create lessons focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.

Taylor, with NASA Headquarters, said folks should expect more Snoopy-themed paraphernalia in the coming weeks and months to mark the moon landing anniversary and the upcoming Artemis missions.

“People just love Snoopy.”

shelby.webb@chron.com

twitter.com/shelbywebb

Let's block ads! (Why?)