Snoopy Award
The Snoopy Award is the highest honor given by NASA astronauts to those individuals or companies that make a substantial contribution to the success of a manned space mission. This informal honor is not associated with any prize money . Less than one percent of the total workforce receives it annually.
The prize as an item consists of a silver pin that has flown on a mission and is connected to a letter of gratitude and a letter of praise, both signed by astronauts.
So was z. For example, the astronaut watch Omega Speedmaster Professional received the Snoopy Award for the successful return of Apollo 13 to Earth (see below).
Choosing the mascot
In response to the need to mobilize additional resources, NASA examined existing industrial and administrative motivation programs. Although all of these programs contained many excellent concepts, there was still no direct connection to the Apollo / Saturn mission, the astronauts, flight safety or the importance of the national space program. There was a need to focus more on flight safety and find a means of helping workers identify better with flight crews and their missions.
After assessment of motivation concepts of government administration, NASA found the Smokey Bear of the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) is particularly interesting. A 1968 study found that Smokey was the most recognizable symbol of the United States: nine out of ten Americans knew him and his message. NASA had to find such a symbol; one that was already widely accepted, especially among the people who worked for manned spaceflight. The symbol was intended to highlight flight safety and the success of the mission, as a kind of guard dog of manned flight.
Snoopy , the precocious dog from the popular Peanuts comics, obviously seemed apt for this. He was a dog, he had acceptance (and sympathy) of the nation and he had flight experience (from the roof of his kennel). People were interested in what Snoopy had to say.
The head of manned flight safety got in touch with Charles M. Schulz - the inventor of Snoopy - to ask if the astronauts would be allowed to choose Snoopy as their personal safety mascot. As an enthusiastic supporter of the American space program, Schulz enthusiastically agreed. Schulz and United Features agreed to give "Snoopy the Astronauts" to NASA free of charge. Nonetheless, to maintain Snoopy's character and integrity, some guidelines have been drawn up.
The use of the Omega Speedmaster Professional on board the Apollo 13
In April 1970, Apollo 13 was in danger when an explosion in the service module damaged and partially destroyed some energy, electricity and life support systems. The crew had to switch off all electrical circuits with the exception of the radio. All navigation computers and timers were also switched off to save energy for the life support systems. As a result, the crew was forced to use their Speedmaster watches to determine the seconds of the rocket ignition for a re-entry into the earth's atmosphere - there was only a time window of 14 seconds with a maximum error of ten percent. Any slight deviation would have sent the capsule into space and certain death for the crew. Jim Lovell and Fred Haise controlled the shuttle manually, while Jack Swigert determined the correct ignition time with his Speedmaster.
The performance of the Speedmaster Professional earned Omega the Snoopy Award, the highest honor given by astronauts. Today this Snoopy Award is on permanent display in the Omega Museum in Biel (Switzerland).
Web links
- NASA page for Snoopy Award (English)