[Apollo 8]

Originally from the personal collection of Dr. George E. Mueller (1918-2015).

AN EARLY, APOLLO 8 FLOWN SNOOPY PIN PRESENTED TO THE FATHER OF THE MANNED FLIGHT AWARENESS AWARD, DR. GEORGE MUELLER

The most famous beagle in the galaxy dons a space suit and helmet, carrying a flight safety pack to raise awareness of the Manned Flight Awareness (MFA) Program, later changed to Space Flight Awareness (SFA). Peanuts creator Charles Schulz gave his full blessing to NASA for Snoopy to be adopted as the mascot for the MFA and to be used as a "spokesperson" to emphasize flight safety, quality control, and other related topics during spacecraft manufacturing after the devastating loss of the Apollo 1 crew.

Dr. George E. Mueller is credited with creating and leading the Office of Manned Spaceflight at NASA Headquarters, what is now the Human Operations and Exploration Mission Directorate. Mueller was originally sworn in as Deputy Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight on September 1, 1963, but his title quickly changed to Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight after an internal reorganization and he remained in that role until he left NASA in December 1969. He shepherded the agency through the completion of the Apollo program as well as the early development of Skylab and space shuttle projects.

Dated the year before his departure from NASA and commemorating humanity's first mission to the Moon, this lunar orbit flown Snoopy pin is one of the clearest documented instances of the pin flown on an Apollo mission. While NASA maintains a database of flown Snoopy awards, records are notably incomplete prior to the shuttle era. Further complicating records, some pins were carried by astronauts in their Personal Preference Kits (PPKs) as mementos to be given as gifts separately from the Space Flight Awareness program.

Snoopy remains an important emblem of NASA today. Silver Snoopy Awards are flown in space each year and presented by astronauts to NASA personnel who make significant contributions to astronaut safety.