Extremely rare original crew patch for the Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test or SMEAT, 4″ in diameter, partially embroidered on white twill, with a merrowed edge and tail. The insignia design of Snoopy in his Flying Ace uniform with a rope around his neck was, according to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, a reference to the mission being a ‘grounded’ simulation. In very fine condition. During the SMEAT program, the crew wore beta cloth versions of the insignia but it seems that a limited number of embroidered versions were also produced and given to some of those working on the tests.
SMEAT was a 56-day simulation of an American Skylab space mission from July 26th to September 19th, 1972, at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas. The astronauts in the test were Bob Crippen, Karol Bobko, and William Thornton, who simulated space experiments, housekeeping, and leisure activities in a hypobaric chamber. SMEAT provided a baseline for the in-orbit portion of biomedical experiments on Skylab.
The connection between NASA and the Peanuts comic strip is well documented. The call signs for the Apollo 10 spacecraft were the names of characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, the semi-official mascots of the famed 'dress rehearsal' Apollo mission, and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz also drew some mission-related artwork for NASA.
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