Why a 'Snoopy' pin is one of the most coveted honors a NASA employee can get. Only 1% ever get it
The beagle from Peanuts has been part of NASA since 1968.
NASA has many ways to recognize the people who keep its missions running, but one award stands apart from the rest. It’s a small silver pin shaped like Snoopy — the Peanuts' beagle in a spacesuit — and for more than 50 years, it has been one of the most meaningful honors a NASA astronaut can give. Snoopy’s NASA journey began in 1968, when he was chosen as the mascot for the Flight Awareness program. As per Air and Space, the campaign was created to remind employees that astronaut safety depended on the smallest details of their work. That reminder carried new weight after the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, which took the lives of three astronauts.
"The loss of the three astronauts’ lives in January 1967 was a devastating blow for NASA and the Apollo program," said Margaret Weitekamp, curator at the National Air and Space Museum. “Recovering from that required a complete reevaluation of the systems, spacecraft, and plans for the lunar landings." So when NASA asked Charles Schulz, Snoopy’s creator, if they could use his character to honor the ones guarding astronauts' safety, he didn't hesitate. "He was incredibly flattered to be asked," explained Benjamin Clark, curator at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. "He so respected what was going on with the space program and was thrilled to be part of it. He donated the drawings free of charge."
His character soon appeared on posters, training materials, and a week of comic strips that tied directly into the Apollo program. As part of this effort, the Silver Snoopy Award was introduced. Each pin is flown in space before being presented personally by an astronaut. "The high esteem of a Silver Snoopy award comes from its stringent requirements," Weitekamp noted. "A person can be recognized with a Silver Snoopy only once. It cannot be awarded in recognition of a retirement… it is only awarded in recognition of specific tasks or achievements that supported and improved a spaceflight." To maintain its prestige, NASA caps the award at no more than 1% of eligible candidates.
According to the NASA database, since 1968, NASA has awarded Silver Snoopy pins to almost 15,000 people for outstanding contributions to human flight safety or mission success. That rarity and personal connection are what give the award its value inside NASA. Snoopy soon became woven into the culture of spaceflight. The Apollo 10 lunar module was nicknamed "Snoopy" because its job was to "snoop around" the moon’s surface before the first landing, while the command module was dubbed "Charlie Brown." Engineers doodled Snoopy on astronaut checklists, plush dolls were carried into orbit, and his image became a constant reminder that mission success was in everyone’s hands.
"Snoopy has been to space quite a few times. He was on Columbia STS-32 in 1990 and the space station in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11," said Maureen O’Brien, NASA’s manager of strategic alliances. Even today, the beagle is still part of new chapters. In 2022, a Snoopy plush wearing a custom flight suit flew aboard Artemis I as the zero-gravity indicator, drifting across the capsule on live TV. "NASA made a custom flight suit for Snoopy from the exact materials used for humans in their spacesuits. The detail was incredible," Clark said. For Schulz, the partnership with NASA was one of his proudest achievements. Looking back, he said, "Cartoonists have been sending their characters into space for years in their stories, but mine was the first character who really went to the moon."
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