Wired magazine's Underwire blog marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 10 moon landing with a look at the association between NASA and Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.

Schulz sketched special artwork for the mission, which lasted from May 18 to 26, 1969, and sent Snoopy to the moon in a series of strips that appeared two months earlier. The previous year, NASA chose the beagle as an icon that would "emphasize mission success and act as a 'watchdog' for flight safety." And the Apollo 10 astronauts even nicknamed their command and lunar modules Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, Calif., is celebrating the anniversary, and the Peanuts connection, through July 20 with an exhibit called "To the Moon: Snoopy Soars With NASA."