The year was 1961 when President John F. Kennedy challenged NASA to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. The crew of Apollo 10 with Weatherford’s astronaut Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted their command module Snoopy. They scouted out a landing area for Apollo 11 in a module called Charlie Brown.
Choosing Snoopy as a mascot for the Apollo 10 mission sent the popularity of the Peanuts cartoon characters over the top. Stafford was seen carrying a plush Snoopy in a photo that spread across the world.
Today Snoopy, dressed in a full astronaut suit, has landed at the Thomas. P. Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford thanks to a generous donation from Jean Schultz, Charles Schutlz’s wife, and a museum visitor named Charley Brown.
“It was a really fun story,” said museum director Max Ary. “Jean Schulz commissioned the 6 foot tall fiberglass art piece for the museum to honor Stafford. Happenstantial a gentleman was visiting the museum and heard the story about the art piece and said he wanted to pay for half of it. He said his name was Charley Brown.”
The Snoopy has become a highlight of the museum as Baby Boomers recall a happy time of their childhood when Snoopy flew his dog house to battle the Red Baron and the race to the moon was on everyone’s mind.