Snoopy in the Sky: How the Cartoon Beagle Became an Aerospace Icon

AirSpace Season 11, Episode 11: Snoopy in the Sky

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Emily: Welcome to AirSpace from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. I'm Emily.

Matt: And I'm Matt. Today we're talking about someone who was a World War I pilot, a charter pilot, a helicopter and an astronaut going to the Moon and the ISS. Who could have possibly done all that? Well, Snoopy, of course, 

Emily: Snoopy may have started out just as Charlie Brown's pet dog in the popular comic Peanuts, but his vivid imagination has taken him far.

Matt: We are exploring the many air and space careers of Snoopy today on AirSpace sponsored by Lockheed Martin. 

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Emily: Matt, I wish I lived under a rock. But I don't. 

Matt: You wish you did? 

Emily: Well, I'm a geologist. Wouldn't it be cool to like live under rocks? 

Matt: Oh! I didn’t get that at, at first. Yeah. All right. Well, we live on top of rocks, so there you go. 

Emily: But since I don't, I've heard of Snoopy, I think that means you definitely have heard of Snoopy. 

But because you and I are scholars and we are thorough, we're gonna go ahead and assume that maybe some of our listeners do live under rocks, lucky ducks. And so we're gonna describe, um, Snoopy for those people. 

Matt: Right. And this is helpful for us too because even though I grew up with Snoopy and with the Peanuts, a lot of this story really predates me. Um, and I predate you, which means it predates you too

Emily: laughs

Matt: Because the Peanuts started back in the 40s as a comic strip called Lil’ Folks that featured a group of children and it was bought, renamed, and syndicated in October of 1950. And from then on, that's when it was known as the Peanuts. and could be found in the newspapers.

And then, you know, we were both born. A couple, a couple, few decades later and you know, started getting exposed to the Peanuts then, once they were very well established. 

Emily: Sure and it didn't take very long for everybody to be introduced to Snoopy the Beagle in the comic strip, and it was the third Peanuts strip published October 4th, 1950.

Snoopy's this character that goes on all of these really great, imaginary adventures. That all came out of the writer, Charles Schulz's brain.

Matt: Yeah, and you know the fun thing about the Peanuts as a kid reading it, is that it's a cartoon strip told exclusively from the perspective of children, right? Adults don't even have voices in the Peanuts comics and and in the movies and everything. They just kind of make noises. And the children are the only ones who you can actually hear speak.

Uh, but some of the most fun sort of episodes or strips are the ones that focus on Snoopy, because I think Snoopy even more so than the kids, just had an incredibly vivid imagination. 

Emily: Snoopy starts off really just as the pet dog of the main character, Charlie Brown. But Snoopy starts to take on this main character energy like you talked about, Matt, where he becomes this character that goes on all of these imaginary adventures and gets to do all kinds of really super cool things.

Matt: Even though Schulz retired in the 1990s and died in 2000, the comic strip is still published and running today. 

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Matt: To learn more about Snoopy's exploits in air and space. We talked to two experts in the story of Charles Schulz, and experts really in Peanuts canon from their outset to today.

Benjamin: I'm Benjamin Clark. I’m Curator at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California.

Melissa: And I'm Melissa Menta, and I'm the Senior Vice President of Global Brand and Communications for Peanuts Worldwide in New York City. 

Emily: We're gonna start going through Snoopy's CV-- Curriculum Vitae if you're unfamiliar. And we're gonna start with his aviation career and then move into his astronaut career. And I think what's cool about this is all of this came out of Charles Schulz's head, but Schulz himself had very little experience with aviation, even though he was fascinated by it.

Benjamin: He didn't have a lot of personal experience with aviation, uh, in his younger life, for sure. And even leading up to that time when Snoopy climbs atop of his dog house and dons the flight helmet and goggles that was actually really inspired by, um, his, well, it's a mix of things. Um, one thing was if one of his sons was, um, in his teenage years and, uh, was building plastic model planes of World War I aircraft. 

Anyway, he had brought one of these models in to show his dad and, uh, Charles Schulz and Schulz was in his studio working, and, and one of the things he would do, would he, he, he just doodled, you know, when he was talking and, um, and when he was trying to, you know, think of ideas and they're talking about this stuff and he draws Snoopy with the leather, you know, flight hat… helmet and goggles and puts him atop the doghouse. And then it’s like, ‘oh, this is something’

Matt: We've talked so many times on this podcast about how World War I was so important to flight in America and you know, the planes, the technology, the excitement about aviation after the war, stirring up this new aviation culture in America and even though Schulz was creating these characters in the 1940s and 50s, he looked back to World War I as well as being this time of sort of, you know. The Air Cavalry and the World War I Ace. And that's exactly what he modeled Snoopy after, or that's what he modeled Snoopy's air exploits after 

Emily: And one of the things I love about how Charles put this all together, is the airplane that Snoopy first starts piloting is a Sopwith Camel, which in part he chose not just because it was World War I plane, but because it had a funny sounding name.

Benjamin: He had his son go get, um, a book about World War I aircraft and he brought it back and they're kind of flipping through it and all of a sudden he sees Sopwith Camel and he goes, okay, this is, this is it. And a, uh, and you know, an icon was born. 

Schulz was also a bit influenced by, you know, growing up in the 20s and 30s, uh, seeing movie serials and those adventure serials, including some of those melodramatic World War I, kind of adventure things. 

And he, uh, you know, he loved that line. You know, ‘you can't send men up to die in crates like these!’ He said he always wanted to use that line, but I never did. And it was so, I was tempted to, I think maybe it was just too much. So, uh, he never did use that line. But, um, that was kind of the origin of Snoopy being affiliated with, um, aviation.

Matt: This era of World War I aviation was the, the time of sort of the one-on-one air dog fights, right? Where you've got one pilot up against another. And for Snoopy, his nemesis, who he was going up against constantly was the Red Baron. Who you never actually see in the strips, but who Snoopy is always sort of going up against and preparing to fight and taking, you know, shots from, and, yeah it's, it's always very dramatic.

And the Red Baron was actually a real character pulled from World War I history. He was a German pilot who, was you know, one of the Aces on the other side of the war that American and British pilots feared. 

Emily: And the Flying Ace pilot version of Snoopy is one of the longest running storylines in Peanuts.

Matt: Yeah, and I remember it of course most from that Halloween special. It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which came out in 1966 before I was born, but was replayed year after year, well into my childhood, and I think it's still being enjoyed today.

But I remember Snoopy getting up on top of his doghouse, you know, with the scarf, with the uh, you know, the goggles and, and the little flight, uh, helmet and, you know, taking off and, and having these dog fights with the Red Baron. Interesting and dramatic moments of aviation in an otherwise very Halloweeny special.

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Emily: In addition to being a Flying Ace over the course of multiple comics and multiple storylines. Snoopy did a lot of other things as a pilot,

Benjamin: A little bit later on Snoopy has a charter service that he, he, he does, they never really specify the aircraft. It's, um, small though. And, uh, he also, uh, races in the Powder Puff. So, um, which Schulz's, uh, wife, Jean Schulz, who was a pilot, uh, also participated in with her mother, who was also a pilot.

Um, so, uh, that was very much, um, from his own life.

Melissa: Snoopy was also a helicopter. 

Benjamin: Oh, that's right. Yeah. He was also a helicopter

Melissa: Well, let's, his ears are the, the spinning things. 

Benjamin: Propeller rotors. 

Melissa: Yes. Propeller. Thank you. 

Benjamin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's  uh, yeah he rescues Linus off the roof of a barn! Yeah, it’s avery harrowing situation.

Emily: Not to be confused with a helicopter pilot. Snoopy, the dog, was the helicopter.

And Matt, I'm gonna need you to say more because a dog is not a helicopter. 

Matt: Well…No, but if you've ever owned, uh, a beagle, or in my case a Bassett hound, like a, a dog that has long floppy ears, then you can kind of imagine how this would work. Like when when a beagle shakes its head and the the ears go flapping everywhere.

But what Snoopy would do was twist his ears up, kind of like winding up a propeller or a rubber band powered toy, and then let ‘em spin and he became a helicopter. 

Emily: Let ‘em spin Matt. 

Actually, that visual was perfect and I completely understand what kind of helicopter Snoopy was. I totally understand now. It's about the ear flop. 

Matt: laughs

Emily: Snoopy the helicopter or Whirly Dog is also one of the long running storylines in the comics. But beyond Snoopy's credentials as a pilot of various craft, Snoopy is incredibly accomplished in the field of space exploration. 

Matt: Yeah, that's right. His exploits weren't limited to you know, within the Earth's atmosphere. He also went beyond the Earth and, you know, just like, uh, our original first astronauts, he benefited from having a military career in aviation before going to space. 

Emily: laughs and, by being his own helicopter, one might argue, has quite a long history of being a test pilot.

Matt: Yeah, and, actually, you know, the way that Snoopy ends up in space or associated with space is that NASA sought Charles Schulz out and suggested using Snoopy for a safety campaign that they were running within NASA in the aftermath of the Apollo I fire in 1967. So that great tragedy where three Apollo astronauts were launched, were lost on the launchpad to a devastating fire, and NASA was looking for ways to increase awareness around safety, to have sort of messages that, um, employees would look at and to create or reinforce a culture of safety within NASA

Benjamin: They had approached him about using Snoopy as a symbol of safety for, um, their crewed flight safety program. That was in early ‘68. And, um, which he allowed, uh, that was something he, he, he thought about, uh, you know, he thought, well, this, this could be good, this could go bad.

Um, what if there's another disaster? And my character's the face of it, that would be terrible. And he eventually decided, you know what? These people are risking far more than I am. Um, I think it's worth doing. And if this can play a small part, then I'm happy to be a part of it. 

Emily: Some of this messaging resulted in Snoopy being on posters and flyers that were distributed throughout NASA centers. And you would often find Snoopy sort of doodled into different safety manuals and other flight materials. I think if, if any of our listeners know even a little bit about NASA, safety is paramount for them and they used Snoopy as a tool to deliver these messages in a really fun and honestly engaging way that people pay attention to, right? Safety messages don't do you any good if nobody's paying attention to them. So there was also plush toys that were depicting Snoopy wearing a flight safety pack.

And we actually have some of this content shown in our Destination Moon exhibit in our National Mall Building.

Matt: And associated with the use of Snoopy as sort of a safety mascot within NASA was the development of the Silver Snoopy Award, 

Benjamin: Those are awarded to people, NASA employees and contractors, uh, I understand who have done some sort of exemplary contribution to crewed safety. So it can be awarded for all kinds of things. They're very small, they're teeny tiny, they're little lapel pins. And then they are awarded by an astronaut. 

Matt: And you know, we didn't even tell you the best part yet, which is not only does it have to be given by an astronaut, but the pin itself has been flown in space with the first Silver Snoopy pins flown on onboard Apollo XIII in 1968. 

So it's a cute little lapel pin. Some recipients have then transformed that into other things, like for example, you know, maybe a little charm or a necklace or, you know, however they prefer to wear their Snoopy. And the Silver Snoopy awards are still given out today at NASA and they are kind of cool, coveted things that everybody wants

Benjamin: And, and actually we, uh, I just recently interviewed a NASA uh, retiree who, who had just been awarded a Silver Snoopy award. And this person had had a long career at, at NASA and was one of, one of her very proudest moments was, was this, was having a Silver Snoopy award.

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Emily: Matt, Snoopy got his start in this space program by encouraging everybody to pay attention to safety… because we all know my mantra; safety, fun, then learning. But that was just the start of Snoopy's career with NASA and in space specifically. 

Matt: Yeah, and that career wasn't limited to the, pins and the, the posters and everything happening within NASA. Charles Schulz started sending Snoopy to space in the comic strip. 

And in fact, you know, Snoopy went to the Moon before any of the Apollo astronauts, and in a series of comic strips in March of 1969, he became the first beagle on the Moon. Still the only beagle on the Moon. But by the way, Emily, I know you wanna point out… go ahead

Emily: laughs Well, Barbie went Barbie. Barbie went to space in 1965, which is after Mercury astronauts went to space. But before Snoopy went to the Moon.

Matt: Right. So Barbie still holds, holds the record for like, you know, first toy on, on, on the Moon.

Emily: First toy on the Moon. 

Matt: Yeah. But you know, just like with the, the Sopwith Camel, this story begins with Snoopy again, sitting on top of his doghouse. He's not sitting on top of a rocket waiting to launch instead, you know, it's his imagination that propels him to the Moon and, you know, allows him to take a stroll wearing, you know, a bubble helmet, uh, on the surface of the Moon, 

And we should say like, it also wasn't just limited to the comic strip, not just to drawings, whether that's drawings in NASA or drawings in, uh, the newspapers. It actually led to Snoopy going to the Moon, uh, with Apollo astronauts.

So on Apollo X,  Snoopy and Charlie Brown went to the Moon in the form of the actual spacecrafts being named after them. 

Emily: Right, so, on Apollo, you had the command module, which would orbit the Moon while the other two Apollo astronauts would descend down to the lunar surface in the lunar module. So once the Apollo spacecraft started doing tests separating the two pieces, each of the pieces needed a name. 

And so as you mentioned, Matt, Apollo X had Snoopy being the Lunar Module that was going down to the lunar surface, and Charlie Brown was the Command Module. 

Matt: Right. And this was a mission that didn't land on the Moon. It was essentially a dress rehearsal for Apollo XI. Uh, the astronauts did everything but land on the Moon. But, you know, this was the opportunity to express a little love for Snoopy and Charlie Brown and also, you know, get them some real sort of space time.

Emily: And then also astronaut. Mike Massimino took his own childhood astronaut Snoopy to space on the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009. 

But there's more! I mean, Snoopy's endurance in space is pretty impressive. 

Matt: Yeah. In addition to astronauts like Massimino bringing Snoopy with them in one way or another, a stuffed astronaut Snoopy also made it to the International Space Station in 2019 as part of celebrations for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and that was the year the astronaut Snoopy balloon made its debut in the parade. 

Emily: Most recently in 2022, Snoopy was aboard the Artemis one spacecraft as the zero G indicator.  And this is an item that lets astronauts as well as mission control know that the spacecraft has left Earth's gravity… by floating.

Melissa: So we made a, a special custom Snoopy, which now, um, resides in the, in the Schulz Museum. But I had the honor of being able to deliver that zero gravity indicator to Charlie Blackwell Thompson, um, at Kennedy Space Center…at the top of the Artemis Rocket. 

Matt: Right. If you remember, if you tuned into the Artemis I mission, there were no humans on board that capsule, but there were cameras inside and seeing the zero g indicator float up from the ground and indicate that you know, they had entered into microgravity. That was, you know the first time that you saw Snoopy onboard that capsule.

It was a great reveal. 

Emily: And I am a little surprised that Snoopy didn't become a zero G indicator long before this moment with Artemis I, but I also think that, you know, it's one of those special things that crews generally get to pick together to decide what their zero G indicator is gonna be.

Matt: One of the cool things about that snoopy zero G indicator also was, you know, even though there were no crew aboard, Snoopy was wearing the official Artemis spacesuit, or at least a suit that had been made out of the fabric that the Artemis suits are made out of.

Emily: Snoopy's CV is stacked. And what is incredible about it is that this is all coming out of the imagination of Charles Schulz writing about imaginative children. But I think what's really exciting about this theme of Snoopy is how excited people get about Snoopy, but not just Snoopy… pilot Snoopy, astronaut Snoopy, safety mascot Snoopy.

And I don't think you have to be a child to have this resonate with you.

Benjamin: You know, Snoopy is, is fantastical, you know, he, he's, he's able to do things that so many of us wish we could, and so many of us, you know, dream of and have dreamt our whole lives, you know, it would be amazing to go to space and, uh, Snoopy can and he can with us. 

Matt: So, you know, as we've covered here, Snoopy, very accomplished pilot. Astronaut who's been just about everywhere. I even have some Happy Meal toys that show Snoopy on the on Mars with the Mars rovers and honestly I'm still a big fan and I can't wait to see where Snoopy's gonna go next. 

Will he make it to the Moon in real life this time? What does that look like? What does that mean? I don't know, but we're going back. Maybe Snoopy's going back. 

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Emily: AirSpace is from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

It's produced by Jennifer Weingart and mixed by Tarek Fouda. AirSpace is hosted by Dr. Matt Shindell and me, Dr. Emily Martin. Our managing producer is Erika Novak. Our production coordinator is Joe Gurr. Our social media manager is Amy Stamm.

A big thank you to our guests in this episode, Benjamin Clark from the Schulz museum and Melissa Menta of Peanuts Worldwide.

Did you know that transcripts of our episodes include citations and extra fun facts? You can find them linked in the show notes along with the signup for our super fun monthly newsletter.

For additional content photos and more, follow AirSpacePod on Instagram and X. We're also on YouTube shorts. Check us out on the Museum's page.

AirSpace is sponsored by Lockheed Martin and distributed by PRX.

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Matt: A previous version of this podcast stated that it was unusual for Snoopy as an American pilot to fly the Sopwith Camel, that was incorrect. American pilots in WWI flew mostly French and British aircraft like the Camel. Thanks to our listener Tim for kindly pointing that out.