Have you watched Shaun the Sheep, a popular animated character? During our childhood, the show had us completely enthralled. Shaun, the title character from the show has been selected as the first ‘astronaut’ abroad by the NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) for Artemis 1 lunar mission.
“It’s a giant leap for lambkind”
Shaun the Sheep will be in doll form. He will travel far beyond the moon aboard NASA’s unmanned Orion spacecraft before coming back to Earth in a little over a month. As per an ESA statement, this voyage will be managed from the ground. Moreover, it will only have a woolly specialist as a passenger rather than a human crew.
“This is an exciting time for Shaun the sheep and for us at ESA,” said ESA’s Director for Human and Robotic Exploration Dr. David Parker in a statement, adding, “We’re woolly very happy that he’s been selected for the mission and we understand that, although it might be a small step for a human, it’s a giant leap for lambkind”.
Shaun is traveling farther than any sheep has ever gone
Shaun, the sheep has a “keen passion for exploring”. Being that, he flew on the special Airbus ‘Zero G’ A310 aircraft. It simulates the “weightlessness” conditions found in space on one of its parabolic flights.
“Shaun’s mission assignment rounds off the first phase for the latest members of our astronaut corps. With Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti currently on the International Space Station on her second spaceflight, Danish ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen named for his second flight and before we introduce our new astronauts from the 2021 call for selection later this year,” said Dr. Parker.
Lucy Wendover, Marketing Director at Aardman calls the mission “a great honor for our woolly adventurer.” She said that Shaun is leading the way in lunar exploration. She says this is the best way to celebrate Shaun’s debut TV series’ 15th anniversary. Shaun is traveling farther than any sheep has ever gone.