Inside the lobby of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Snoopy, the zero-gravity indicator that flew aboard Orion during the Artemis I mission, is shown on Jan. 5, 2023, after being unpacked from his transport case. Snoopy was secured inside Orion during the Artemis I mission, a journey beyond the Moon and back to prepare for crewed missions to the Moon. Artemis I launched atop the Space Launch System rocket on Nov. 16, 2022 from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B. Orion returned to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, 2022 after traveling more than 1.4 million miles. NASA has held an association with Snoopy since the Apollo Era – the character has contributed to the excitement for NASA human spaceflight missions, helping inspire generations to dream big, and is a symbol of NASA’s safety culture and mission success.
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Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson