‘Astronaut’ Snoopy to visit moon aboard NASA’s Artemis mission as zero-gravity indicator in 2022

Snoopy, the iconic character from creator Charles M Schulz’s comic strip 'Peanuts', seems to be flying aboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis mission to visit moon early next year.

In a tweet, NASA said, “AstronautSnoopy is no stranger to space. The Peanuts character skimmed the lunar surface as the name of the Apollo 10 lunar module & even caught a ride on the space shuttle. Now Snoopy is going to the Moon as a zero-gravity indicator aboard Artemis.”

The Snoopy’s iconic form will be flying aboard the shuttle in NASA’s first lunar mission in several decades as a micro-gravity indicator.

When the spacecraft leaves Earth’s gravitational field and enters the microgravity of space, the Snoopy plush dressed in NASA's Orion Crew Survival System pressure suit will begin to float aboard Artemis 1 Orion.

For future manned missions, there will be a manikin and two "phantom" human torsos along with Snoopy, who will collect data for the flight to the moon.

“Zero gravity indicators are small items carried aboard spacecraft that provide a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity. Without astronauts aboard Orion, Snoopy will help share the journey with the world as he rides along in the cabin with a manikin and two other “passengers,” NASA added.

(With inputs from agencies)