NASA and Snoopy After the tragedy of the Apollo I fire, NASA wanted to promote greater safety awareness. A NASA official explained, " We thought Snoopy as an astronaut would be perfect. He happened to be the only dog with flight experience and was thus eligible to be a mascot for the astronauts. " Schulz agreed to let NASA use Snoopy for the program's mascot and drew the image for the Silver Snoopy Award, presented to NASA employees or contractors " for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success. " In 1969, the Apollo 10 crew chose Snoopy and Charlie Brown as the names for their spacecraft. Mission commander Thomas Stafford called Schulz and told him the news. " It was a great thrill, especially for an old Buck Rogers fan, to know your characters would be the first to really go to outer space, " said Schulz. Snoopy joined NASA in 1968 as a mascot for the Manned Flight Awareness program (now called the Space Flight Awareness program), which was established in 1963. The beagle was chosen to boost morale and visibility for the space effort. 70 AOPA PILOT / March 2025 NASA