The Nanaimo Museum is travelling back in time to the spring and summer of 1969 to discover the role Snoopy played in space exploration.
The lovable dog, made famous by the Peanuts cartoon strip, is featured in the museum’s To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA exhibition, from Saturday (June 2) to Sept. 3.
It showcases Snoopy as he soars with Apollo 10, only two months before the first moon landing in July 1969.
Through cartoons, photographs and information about manned space exploration, museum visitors will learn about the series of events that put man on the moon.
For young visitors there are cartoon characters for viewing, a creative play space where they can climb inside Snoopy’s outer-space doghouse and even have their photograph taken in an Apollo 10 astronaut suit.
Every Thursday is the drop-in Rocket Lab program where participants can build a straw rocket, enter a balloon rocket race and leave with a rocket treat. The program is included with the cost of admission to the museum.
Visitors can also see the original March 1969 Peanuts strip series of Snoopy’s trip to the moon where he plays an important role as the safety ambassador for NASA.
Much of the exhibition celebrates the Silver Snoopy Award program and highlights a Silver Snoopy pin that actually flew to the moon.
The crew of Apollo 10 chose to name their command and lunar modules Charlie Brown and Snoopy, respectively.
Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan piloted ‘Snoopy’ within 15,240 metres of the lunar surface as they scouted the landing area for Apollo 11.
This exhibit is organized by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Centre.
Nanaimo Museum is in the Port of Nanaimo Centre, 100 Museum Way.
For more information, please go to www.nanaimomuseum.ca or call 250-753-1821.