European Space Agency recruits Shaun (the sheep) for Artemis 1 moon mission



A well-known stop-motion sheep is set to depart for the moon from Mossy Bottom Farm.

A spot has been reserved for Shaun, the main character from the animated television series "Shaun the Sheep," on NASA's Artemis 1 mission, which is scheduled to launch later this month. On NASA's unmanned Orion spacecraft, the particularly cunning Shropshire lamb will travel far beyond the moon before returning to Earth in a little over a month.

Shaun was included in the Artemis 1 Official Flight Kit(opens in new tab) thanks to the European Space Agency (ESA), which also constructed the mission's power-supplying service module.

David Parker, ESA's director for human and robotic exploration, said in a statement(opens in new tab) issued on Tuesday that "this is an exciting time for Shaun and for us at ESA" (Aug. 2). Although it might be a modest step for a human, it's a great stride for lambkind, and we're fuzzy very delighted that he's been chosen for the mission.

Shaun's real-life space voyage was organized by ESA in collaboration with Aardman, the animation company that created the stop-motion sheep.

According to Lucy Wendover, marketing director at Aardman, "Aardman is pleased to be partnering ESA in making history by sending the first "sheep" into space." Shaun is pioneering lunar exploration as one of the first astronauts to fly on an Artemis mission(opens in new tab), which is a huge honor for our woolly explorer.

She continued, "What better way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Shaun's debut TV series than by going further than any sheep has ever gone."

Shaun (the sheep) initially made an appearance in the 1995 short movie "A Close Shave," which is a spinoff of another Aaarman work, "Wallace & Gromit." Since its 2007 premiere, the TV show has been broadcast to 180 nations. Then came two full-length movies, including "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon" from 2019, in which Shaun meets an alien.

Shaun (again, in the form of a plush doll) participated in a parabolic plane flight with an ESA crew to simulate weightlessness akin to that experienced in space as part of his preparation for that film.

ESA stated in the press statement announcing Shaun's flight on the Artemis 1 mission that "[the trip] provides insight into the hard training that all astronauts do to prepare for spaceflight, which he will now experience for real."

Shaun has now completed more "training," visiting a number of locations in Europe and the United States to "see" various parts of the upcoming moon expedition. Prior to the launch, a series of ESA blog posts(opens in new tab) will detail his voyage, which was captured on camera.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion will be tested together for the first time on Artemis 1, opening the door to crewed missions to the moon. As it creates a lasting presence on the moon, NASA's Artemis mission seeks to place the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface.

Shaun is not the only representative of popular culture to take off on the first Artemis flight. A one-of-a-kind Snoopy doll (opens in new tab) modeled on the cartoon beagle is flying as the mission's zero-gravity indicator, along with four LEGO minifigures(opens in new tab).

The story was first published on collectSPACE. Read the original story here

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