It is a plush stuffed animal of about 140 grams, disguised as an astronaut. But it is not a whim of the son of any manager, because at NASA they do not stitch without thread. It follows the strict specifications of the agency and has a role in the unmanned mission of Artemis I. This cute little dog of the Beagle breed will go inside the rocket as an indicator of zero gravity. This is nothing more than a visual indicator that the rocket has reached zero gravity once it is in space. And it will be quite visible, because he will wear a very striking orange suit.
The truth is that Snoopy has already traveled to the Moon before, although not physically. The Apollo 10 lunar module was named “Snoopy,” while the command module was named “Charlie Brown.” This mission was the previous one to the Apollo 11 mission. Snoopy would be the definitive proof that the lunar module worked under the command of two astronauts, it could descend and then go up to dock again with the lunar module. I mean, Charlie Brown let Snoopy go for a bit, but told him to come back before he hit the lunar ground. Astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan were the ones who chose these cute names for the lunar module and the command module. The location of Snoopy, the command module, not the Peanuts characters, is currently unknown. It is the only ship that has been manned and has been lost in space. In the Apollo missions, it was the astronauts who named both the lunar module and the command module. After Apollo 10 they were asked a little more seriously, but NASA backfired: Young, Mattingly and Duke from Apollo 16 dubbed the command module “Casper.”
Returning to Snoopy, he would physically fly into space for the first time was in 1990, inside the shuttle Columbia, during the STS-32 mission. The Apollo 10 thing was just the name. And now he will return, but well experienced and he will go alone. Or almost alone, as he will be accompanied by a mannequin specially equipped with a vest that will measure the radiation that the astronauts of the future will receive on the Artemis missions. The puppy was also on the International Space Station, where astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch played with him live for NBC in 2019.
The reason was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the presence of the dog astronaut in space and the two astronauts covered the coverage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that year. Snoopy appeared as a giant balloon that doubled as a stuffed animal perched aboard the International Space Station.
Perhaps a stuffed animal is the first toy that a baby can have, if we understand an attachment as such. As babies learn to play, throwing objects into the air is one of the natural actions. As much as the parents regret. So sending toys into space is something almost natural that every human project would like to carry out. In a NASA collaboration with LEGO, pieces valued at more than 12,000 euros were used. Figures of Jupiter, Juno and Galileo were sent in the Juno probe towards Jupiter. It is part of the “LEGO Bricks in Space” program, to promote space exploration among the youngest.
To infinity and beyond
A Buzz Lightyear doll, the popular space warrior from Toy Story, flew the Discovery to the International Space Station and stayed there for fifteen months. Today this seasoned astronaut can be seen at the US Space Museum to inspire future generations of astronauts. Buzz Aldrin himself made a funny video “training” his colleague and namesake Ligthyear to go into space.
Jurasic space
Another plush launched into space was a sequined dinosaur that Bon Behnken and Doug Hurley wore at a SpaceX launch. It is not the only stuffed animal that Elon Musk’s company launches into space. The tycoon himself was joking about a plush planet Earth that he sent on one of his flights.
May the Force be with you
Also the adorable Baby Yoda has been used as a zero gravity indicator. It is the mini Yoda from the series “The Mandalorian”. He boarded the Crew Dragon capsule of the ship Sapace X.
All kinds of objects have been sent into space, each one more strange. In general, the aerospace industry and the astronauts themselves tend to encourage vocations so that space exploration grows every year. Efforts in educational programs around the world are truly important and reach a broad spectrum of students of all ages. But not all that have been shipped are toys, adults have things up there too.
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber has been sent into space, which while the little ones may like it, it is almost a bit more of a boomer. But the palm goes to sex and sexuality. There is sex in space. A diagram of the sexual organs of the human being is the simplest that has been sent in this context. On the Apollo 12 mission, a thumb-sized ceramic was sent to the Moon. There were six drawings by influential artists from the 1960s. Well, Andy Warhol – a joker he – painted a penis. But not just any penis, but the typical penis that a teenager would paint on the partner’s chair. Sperm, sperm of all kinds of critters makes us understand that space sperm works. And a calendar of the Playboy “bunnies” that the astronauts of the Apollo 12 mission brought with them cannot be missing from this list.
