HOUSTON, April 18, 2019
/PRNewswire/ -- NASA's Johnson Space Center, in collaboration with
Space Center Houston, its official visitor center, will celebrate
the 50th anniversary of Apollo 10 mission on Thursday, April 25, with a day of activities
capitalizing on the mission's unique call sign for the Lunar Lander
of Snoopy.
Media are invited to attend the unveiling of a specially
designed Peanuts art installation in front of Space Center Houston
at Talon Park (under the T-38 astronaut training aircraft) with the
Snoopy character in attendance.
Apollo 10 was the fourth human
mission in the Apollo program, and
the second to orbit the Moon. Launching May
18, 1969, it served as a "dress rehearsal" for the first
Moon landing, testing all of the components and procedures,
enabling the Apollo 11 landing two
months later.
The Apollo command module used
the call sign of the Peanuts cartoon character Charlie Brown, while the lunar module was named
for his dog and sidekick, Snoopy. Apollo 10 Commander
Tom Stafford, Lunar Module Pilot
Gene Cernan and Command Module Pilot John Young adopted the Peanuts
characters as Apollo 10's
semi-official mascots. The association led to a decades-long award
of distinction for employees who have contributed significantly to
human spaceflight safety, known as the Silver Snoopy Award.
NASA and Peanuts Worldwide once again are joining forces to
collaborate on educational activities that share the excitement of
science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with a new
generation of explorers and thinkers. The collaboration, formalized
though a Space Act Agreement, provides an opportunity to update the
Snoopy character by Charles M.
Schulz, for space-themed programming with content about
NASA's deep space exploration missions, 50 years after its initial
collaboration began during the Apollo era.
Activities at Space Center Houston begin Thursday morning, and
will include launch of the Peanuts Global Artist Collective, the
unveiling of "The Heavens and the Earth," art installation
featuring a retired International Space Station (ISS) training
module mockup wrapped in an original Charlie Brown and Snoopy motif created by
renowned artist Kenny
Scharf.
Students and the public will be able to engage in STEM
activities developed by Peanuts, participate in the unveiling
ceremony of the International Space Station training module and
participate in Space Center Houston's Thought Leaders series later
that evening.
Thursday, April 25 (all times
Central)
- 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Students
from Houston Independent School District (HISD) will participate in
Apollo 10 and Peanuts STEM
Activities. Schools in attendance, Davila and Wesley
Elementary, are part of a partnership between the JSC Office of
STEM Engagement and HISD, under the Magnet School Assistance
Program (MSAP) grant received from the U. S. Department of
Education.
- 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Peanuts Pop up
labs featuring STEM activities will be open to the public.
- 1-2:30 p.m.: Retired ISS training
module unveiling begins and photo opportunities outside in front of
Space Center Houston (Talon Park under the T-38 astronaut training
aircraft) with the Snoopy character.
- 7 p.m.: Space Center Houston "Thought Leader Series" with
Apollo 10 Commander Tom Stafford
Media wishing to participate in person or reserve an interview
opportunity must contact Space Center Houston at 281-244-2139 by 5
p.m. Wednesday, April 24.
Just as Apollo inspired a
generation, NASA continues to inspire with feats of science and
exploration today. By bringing together the capabilities and
resources of our international and commercial partners to return to
the Moon and on to Mars, we will demonstrate to people around the
world the power of a unified purpose.
For more information about NASA's STEM Engagement programs,
visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/stem
For more information about Space Center Houston, visit:
https://spacecenter.org
For more information about the Peanuts Global Artist Collective,
visit:
http://peanutsglobalartistcollective.com
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SOURCE NASA