The Artwork

Snoopy is a character in the cartoon (comic) strip, "Peanuts." The creator of the comic strip, Charles Schulz, authorized the use of Snoopy likeness in the space program. On Skylab all personal items (tissue dispensers, food trays, pantry drawers, etc.) were identified with a red (Commander), white (Science Pilot) and blue (Pilot) decals (see photo).

About halfway through our mission I was exercising on the ergometer (stationary bicycle) and was amused to note a Snoopy decal flaoting lazily by at eye level. I grabbed it and later put it away for a souvenir. Ed Gibson had the same experience a few days later and we decided the decals would make great mementos.

The decals were affixed to tissue dispensers, pantry drawers and most personal items. At the end of our mission we peeled off the ones that hadn't come loose and brought them back home. Skylab was launched on May 14, 1973 and our recovery and splashdown was on February 8, 1974. The decals were in space for 270 days totaling approximately 100 million miles of travel distance and 4320 orbits of the Earth.