Peanuts in Space --- the first NASA name-drop?

What I think is the first direct connection between NASA and
Charles Schulz's _Peanuts_ was today's rerun (four-panel) strip today:

http://comics.com/peanuts/2009-06-25/

The context of the whole 'Lieutenant Commander Carpenter' bit
has already been explained on the comics.com thread and on Comics
Curmudgeon, with only a little grumbling that it does date the strip
in a not too typical fashion.

(One of the comics.com commenters says Schulz got the
helicopter designation wrong; I don't know enough about that to have
an informed opinion.)

--
Joseph Nebus
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On Jun 25, 12:50*pm, OM wrote:

...Screw'em. The real question is what the frack was Linus doing
wearing glasses?

I'm assuming that you weren't a regular follower of the comic, OM.
Linus was wearing glasses fairly regularly during the late '60s into
the '70s. There was a whole sequence of strips concerning his
diagnosis and having to select glasses, around 1965, '66, or so.
Schultz turned it into a eyesight-awareness promotion, just as later
Sally wore an eyepatch to correct a different eye problem. After the
first few years Linus wore the glasses less and less, until they were
dropped entirely, sometime in the '70s. I don't remember which reprint
books covered the period, but since they are now reprinting the ENTIRE
run of the strip, they should be around the time period soon, if they
haven't already.

On Jun 25, 7:16*pm, OM wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:07:16 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
I'm assuming that you weren't a regular follower of the comic, OM.
Linus was wearing glasses fairly regularly during the late '60s into
the '70s.

...I'm not *that* much of a "Peanuts" fan that I've read every strip
Sparky put to paper. This was one sequence I actually missed.

Surely you have heard of the Silver Snoopy Award? And the Snoopy coin
commemorating the first Apollo lunar landing. Damn coin went for $100
on eBay!


There was a whole sequence of strips concerning his
diagnosis and having to select glasses, around 1965, '66, or so.

...From about 1966 to 1969 I didn't follow the strip primarily because
our family didn't subscribe to the local birdcage liner back then, and
from 67-69 the elementary school I attended had a librarian who
wouldn't put the paper out for the kids to read. My first elementary
school, as I've related before, was run by a rather luddite and
strange bunch of skanks. But that's digressing.


But it does explain a lot...

Schultz turned it into a eyesight-awareness promotion, just as later
Sally wore an eyepatch to correct a different eye problem.

...Now *this* one I remembered. One eye was weaker than the other, so
she had to cover up the stronger eye and force the weaker one to build
up strength.