A new exhibition detailing the Apollo 10 space mission and its links with the Peanuts comic strip is set to open at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center at the weekend.
To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA will invite visitors to explore how Charles Schulz's famous Snoopy and Charlie Brown characters played an integral role in the May 1969 mission.
Apollo 10 was used as a dry run for the Apollo 11 first lunar landing mission in July 1969. The "nearly men" of space flight made it to within 8.4 nautical miles of the moon.
The previous year, NASA had chosen Snoopy as an emblem for the Apollo 10 mission in the hope that the beagle would "emphasize mission success and act as a 'watchdog' for flight safety."
The three astronauts nicknamed the lunar and command modules Charlie Brown and Snoopy, and Schulz sketched artwork especially for the mission.
Schulz famously put Snoopy on the moon two months before the Apollo 10 mission, a fact well documented at the exhibition.
 Snoopy and NASA secretary Jamye Flowers Coplin wish Apollo 10 commander Tom Stafford bon voyage |
Snoopy remains an integral part of the NASA Manned Flight Awareness safety program and the Silver Snoopy pin for contractors and astronauts is a much coveted award.
Visitors to the exhibition can view a Silver Snoopy pin that flew with the crew, and children will have the opportunity to dress up in astronaut regalia.
The exhibition comes to Kansas after a successful spell at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in California in 2009. It runs from February 12 to May 1.
Memorabilia from the Apollo missions can make a sound alternative investment. Neil Armstrong stopped signing autographs in 1994, which makes his signature particularly rare.
Charles Schulz memorabilia is also popular with collectors and can make for a delightful addition to any portfolio.
A patch from the Apollo 10 mission is set to sell at a Lunar Legacies auction on February 19, alongside a number of other Apollo items.
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