Industry Watchdog
Spring 2020 | By Bree Watson聽鈥�04
He鈥檚 not a trained astronaut, yet聽Snoopy has been on dozens of trips聽to space. His mission: to inspire聽and honor those who make spaceflight as聽safe and successful as possible.
In the aftermath of the Apollo 1聽tragedy that took the lives of three crew聽members, officials at NASA reached out聽to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz for聽permission to use Snoopy as the symbol聽for a new safety program. Schulz happily聽agreed and got to work sketching the cosmic聽canine 鈥� a collaboration that endures today.
The Silver Snoopy Award, presented by astronauts聽to professionals in the aerospace industry who support聽them, is a sterling silver lapel pin that was flown in聽space. Since its creation in 1968, the Silver Snoopy has聽been awarded to fewer than 1 percent of the aerospace聽workforce 鈥� about 15,000 people. And last year, Greg聽Plettinck 鈥�09 became one of them.
鲍尝础鈥檚 Greg聽Plettinck 鈥�09 receiving a Silver Snoopy Award in April 2019. He is joined by (L to R): NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Josh Cassada and Suni Williams; ULA CEO and President Tory Bruno; NASA astronaut Eric Boe; Plettinck; Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson; and NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann. Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance.
鈥淚 was both humbled and excited to receive this聽recognition,鈥� says Plettinck, a systems engineer for聽United Launch Alliance (ULA). 鈥淢ost professionals聽who receive this award are presented it by one聽astronaut. I was privileged to have seven astronauts聽that I work with directly present the award. It was聽even more personally meaningful because the聽pin flew with astronaut Eric Boe on STS-133,聽which was the last space shuttle mission I聽worked on.鈥�
Plettinck鈥檚 current role includes training聽the ULA ascent team and conducting simulations in聽support of Boeing鈥檚 CST-100 Starliner crew capsule聽and NASA鈥檚 Artemis program, which is set to land聽the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.聽Asked about Snoopy鈥檚 long-lasting relationship with聽space exploration, Plettinck says, 鈥淪noopy is very聽recognizable and relatable to generations worldwide.聽He represents the childlike wonder and curiosity聽that humans have to seek, explore and discover.鈥�
Here are a few more facts about Snoopy the astronaut:
A Love of Flight
Long before he left Earth鈥檚 orbit, Snoopy聽had earned his wings as the imaginary聽fighter pilot Flying Ace. It was in a March聽1969 comic strip that Snoopy landed his聽doghouse on the moon 鈥� four months聽before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin聽made history.
Coveted Award
The Silver Snoopy is just聽one of the motivational聽and recognition awards given聽through the NASA-managed聽Space Flight Awareness聽program, but it鈥檚 considered the聽most prestigious since the recipients聽are chosen by astronauts. The award聽consists of a sterling silver pin,聽commendation letter and official聽certificate.
Manned Flight’s Best Friend
In the later years of the shuttle聽era, flight manifests listed hundreds聽of Silver Snoopy pins among the聽cargo carried into space. On average,聽there were 145 pins on each shuttle聽mission.
From the Archives
Equipped with a space suit, helmet聽and oxygen tank, the 10-inch Snoopy聽figure featured above was released as聽a promotional item for the Apollo聽10 launch and is one of many space聽memorabilia housed in .