NASA Sports a Low-Tech Solution to a High-Tech Problem with Plush Zero-G Indicator

Photography from a recent Artemis I test flight showed a familiar sight for attentive space enthusiasts, with a small stuffed Snoopy along for the ride. 

Fans of the NASA space program are familiar with the little dog, Snoopy, an invention of Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schult. The character has been a sort of semi-official mascot for NASA, a running reference to the heyday of space travel. Snoopy is the face of the Silver Snoopy Award, recognizing achievements in space, as well as the classic visage of a mountain of NASA-branded merch over the years, on everything from affordable gift shop sweaters to $9,600 limited edition Omega Speedmasters. 

The image shows the little pup pressed into a different role for once, with a stuffed Snoopy acting as a high-visibility, low-tech G-indicator. The little Snoopy - undoubtedly for sale at any NASA gift shop in a bit of coincidental holiday timing - even sports his own little Artemis program space suit. 

Snoopy's got a place in the Artemis program for good, taking up a greater public-facing role as the mascot of educational products for kids and a collection of memorabilia flown aboard a future Orion mission. A new season of the Peanuts cartoon, "Snoopy in Space", will also be released online, exploring planets and the science of space. From a small in-joke to the face of the space program itself, Snoopy's NASA career is going great. 

FMI: www.nasa.gov