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Shaun the sheep, one of the most famous sheep on the planet, goes into space. A doll of the sheep from the film is allowed as a “passenger” on the first test flight to the moon and back. So there’s no one on board yet.
European space agency ESA and the film studio behind Shaun, Aardman, announced the trip on Tuesday. The mission is called Artemis I and its launch is tentatively scheduled for August 29. Shaun the Sheep returns to Earth after approximately 42 days. “We’re thrilled to have Shaun. It might be a small step for a human being, but a giant leap for lameness,” said ESA’s David Parker.
The United States wants to get people back to the moon and back in a few years. An astronaut last walked on the Moon in 1972. Europe built the engine part of the new lunar craft. To practice the flight, the unmanned test flight is first performed. The capsule is scheduled to fly up to 70,000 kilometers beyond the Moon, “further than any human, or sheep, has ever been”, according to the ESA, and then return to Earth.
In 2019, Shaun the Sheep doll completed astronaut training. This happened just before the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and just before the launch of Shaun’s second film, The Space Sheep. During training, the Shaun doll was on a plane that was descending so steeply that everyone on board became weightless for a moment. Astronauts are prepared with such parabolic flights for what it feels like to be in space.
