{"id":18482,"date":"2020-03-16T19:00:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T19:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=18482&post_type=story"},"modified":"2021-06-07T14:09:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T14:09:52","slug":"industry-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/industry-watchdog\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry Watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2020 | By Bree Watson\u00a0\u201904<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

[lead]He\u2019s not a trained astronaut, yet\u00a0Snoopy has been on dozens of trips\u00a0to space. His mission: to inspire\u00a0and honor those who make spaceflight as\u00a0safe and successful as possible.[\/lead]<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the Apollo 1\u00a0tragedy that took the lives of three crew\u00a0members, officials at NASA reached out\u00a0to Peanuts<\/em> creator Charles Schulz for\u00a0permission to use Snoopy as the symbol\u00a0for a new safety program. Schulz happily\u00a0agreed and got to work sketching the cosmic\u00a0canine \u2014 a collaboration that endures today.<\/p>\n

The Silver Snoopy Award, presented by astronauts\u00a0to professionals in the aerospace industry<\/a> who support\u00a0them, is a sterling silver lapel pin that was flown in\u00a0space<\/a>. Since its creation in 1968, the Silver Snoopy has\u00a0been awarded to fewer than 1 percent of the aerospace\u00a0workforce \u2014 about 15,000 people. And last year, Greg\u00a0Plettinck \u201909<\/strong> became one of them.<\/p>\n

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\n[photo id=”18765″ title=”Plettinck_SilverSnoopy-crop” alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

ULA\u2019s Greg\u00a0Plettinck \u201909<\/strong> 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.

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\u201cI was both humbled and excited to receive this\u00a0recognition,\u201d says Plettinck, a systems engineer for\u00a0United Launch Alliance (ULA). \u201cMost professionals\u00a0who receive this award are presented it by one\u00a0astronaut. I was privileged to have seven astronauts\u00a0that I work with directly present the award. It was\u00a0even more personally meaningful because the\u00a0pin flew with astronaut Eric Boe on STS-133,\u00a0which was the last space shuttle mission I\u00a0worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plettinck\u2019s current role includes training\u00a0the ULA ascent team and conducting simulations<\/a> in\u00a0support of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner crew capsule\u00a0and NASA\u2019s Artemis program, which is set to land\u00a0the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024.\u00a0Asked about Snoopy\u2019s long-lasting relationship with\u00a0space exploration, Plettinck says, \u201cSnoopy is very\u00a0recognizable and relatable to generations worldwide.\u00a0He represents the childlike wonder and curiosity\u00a0that humans have to seek, explore and discover.\u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”18788″ title=”SnoopyDetails” alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

Here are a few more facts about Snoopy the astronaut:<\/h2>\n

A Love of Flight<\/h3>\n

Long before he left Earth\u2019s orbit, Snoopy\u00a0had earned his wings as the imaginary\u00a0fighter pilot Flying Ace. It was in a March\u00a01969 comic strip that Snoopy landed his\u00a0doghouse on the moon \u2014 four months\u00a0before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin\u00a0made history.<\/p>\n

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\n\"A<\/p>\n

Coveted Award<\/h3>\n

The Silver Snoopy is just\u00a0one of the motivational\u00a0and recognition awards given\u00a0through the NASA-managed\u00a0Space Flight Awareness\u00a0program, but it\u2019s considered the\u00a0most prestigious since the recipients\u00a0are chosen by astronauts. The award\u00a0consists of a sterling silver pin,\u00a0commendation letter and official\u00a0certificate.\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Manned Flight’s Best Friend<\/h3>\n

In the later years of the shuttle\u00a0era, flight manifests listed hundreds\u00a0of Silver Snoopy pins among the\u00a0cargo carried into space. On average,\u00a0there were 145 pins on each shuttle\u00a0mission.<\/p>\n

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From the Archives<\/h3>\n

Equipped with a space suit, helmet\u00a0and oxygen tank, the 10-inch Snoopy\u00a0figure featured above was released as\u00a0a promotional item for the Apollo\u00a010 launch and is one of many space\u00a0memorabilia housed in 麻豆原创\u2019s Special\u00a0Collections<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":18586,"template":"","categories":[975],"tags":[1438,1439],"class_list":["post-18482","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artifact","tag-aerospace-and-defense","tag-special-collections-and-university-archives","issues-1462","issues-spring-2020"],"yoast_head":"\nSnoopy's Connection with Space and 麻豆原创, Explained<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the general public to experts in the field, beloved Peanuts character Snoopy has been an icon for safety in the aerospace industry since the 1960s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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