Peanuts Worldwide is once again collaborating with NASA, this time to send Snoopy, America’s beloved beagle from the "Peanuts" cartoon, into deep space.
Fifty years ago, Peanuts Worldwide and NASA collaborated to make Snoopy the first beagle to be sent to Earth’s moon. Their new agreement is meant to inspire tomorrow’s big thinkers’ passion for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
“NASA’s venturing to the Moon and beyond with new missions that will push humanity’s reach farther into deep space,” Mark Geyer, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who signed the agreement on the agency’s behalf, said in a NASA statement. “Engaging the public and sharing what we’re doing through partnerships with organizations that have a unique way of reaching people helps generate interest and curiosity about space in the next generation.”
NASA announced Tuesday that it and Peanuts Worldwide have signed a Space Act Agreement to develop a curriculum to inspire students on deep space exploration.
Peanuts Worldwide has been involved with America’s space program since the days of the Apollo missions, when Charles Schultz, Peanuts’ creator, first permitted the agency to use Snoopy as an icon to promote safety.
In 1968, NASA astronauts began personally presenting to NASA contractors and employees who contributed to mission safety the “Silver Snoopy” award.
"My husband, Charles Schulz, fully embraced a collaboration with NASA for Snoopy," said Jeannie Schulz in a statement released by Peanuts Worldwide. "He was inspired to create a series of original comic strips detailing Snoopy's fantastical journeys through space. Those strips remain among the most popular ones in circulation today,"
In May of 1969, the crew of Apollo 10’s command and lunar modules chose "Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy" as their call signs. This was the final "dress rehearsal" for Apollo 11’s historic lunar landing.
"My father once told me that when NASA selected his characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy, to be the names chosen for the modules for the Apollo 10 mission on its trip to the moon, that it was the proudest moment in his career," said Craig Schulz, producer of the 2015 "The Peanuts Movie" and youngest son of the comic strip creator. "He was honored then, and I am honored today as we renew the historic relationship between NASA and Peanuts."
Many people on Twitter wished Snoopy and the gang bon voyage.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.