Showing posts with label space travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space travel. Show all posts

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Snoopy in space?

So, you guys know Snoopy from "Penuts"?
                                                        this guy------>

Well in 1968, when the astronauts of the Apollo 10 lunar mission chose "Snoopy"  as the name of their lunar module , Snoopy became associated with NASA's space program.

your probly thinking "hold up a sec! I thought snoopy was a world war 1 flying ace."  well heres the thing. in the 1960's everyone in the US was really into the space race. so Charles Schulz converted Snoopy's  dog house from a world war 1 airplane in to a rocket ship. in the comic he actually beat the USA and the Russians to become the "first beagle to the moon!"

Now reacently an exibit on snoopy and his accotiation with NASA will be apearing at the Charles Schulz Museum  in Santa Rosa, Calif. for the purpose of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission.

In May 1969, Apollo 10 astronauts Gene Cernan, John Young and Thomas Stafford traveled all the way to the moon for one final checkout before the lunar landing attempt.

Because the mission required the lunar module to "snoop around" scouting the Apollo 11 landing site, the crew named the lunar module "Snoopy." Naturally, the Apollo command module was labeled "Charlie Brown."


The astronauts carried paintings of the duo on their spacecraft, with Charlie Brown in space coveralls and Snoopy in his Flying Ace scarf. They used the paintings to calibrate the cameras used for the first live color telecasts from space.

Apollo 10 astronauts Cernan and Stafford will join recovery team members Chuck Smiley and Wes Chesser at the museum on Jan. 31 to kick off the exhibition. Also attending: Jamye Flowers Coplin, a NASA secretary who was photographed bringing Snoopy to see the crew off  The exhibit will feature a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the Johnson Space Center, an Apollo-era flight suit, the actual image of Charlie Brown that was flown aboard Apollo 10, and a special children's area for creative play.

Snoopy's connection with NASA actually began before Apollo 10. In 1968, NASA chose the beagle as an icon who would quote: "Emphasize mission success and act as a 'watchdog' for flight safety."

Established that same year, the agency's "Silver Snoopy Award" is considered the astronauts personal award, given for basically trying really really hard. Award winners receive a sterling silver Snoopy lapel pin flown in space, along with a certificate and letter of appreciation from NASA astronauts. Fewer than 1% of the workforce is recognized with a Silver Snoopy annually, making it one of the most prized awards in the industry.pretty cool eh?



http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/snoopy.html
 http://www.schulzmuseum.org/

Friday, January 28, 2011

Mars: No Return Trip



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/human-mars-mission.html
    We are capable of sending humans to Mars soon.  However we cannot afford a return trip. According to the article I read, “A One-Way Trip to Mars”, it might be as much as ten times as expensive. There are many reasons to still send people though. Humans are far more effective at research than the machines we already have up there. There wouldn’t be a shortage of volunteers. Despite many assumptions, the people would not be left to die, supplies would be sent every few years and maybe more people. Some scientists have even gone as far too say that we might be able to colonize mars. There are others who point out that even at our science research centers in the arctic, there is a rotation of people. The conditions are just not hospitable enough to send someone to live on Mars.
    I found this article interesting because the idea of sending people to Mars is, well plainly put, exciting. Colonization almost sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. If they go through with this, I wonder who would really be willing to live out the rest of their life with very little companionship on an alien world. This is an important step in science because what humans might find on Mars would far surpass anything we’ve found thus far.
Mars: http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm