This is a NASA-released image of a very important piece of space technology. That small, color-corrected orange thing is a tiny plush Snoopy doll used to measure relative weightlessness in the crew cabin. I’d kind of like to see Snoopy’s descendants featured in more “hard” science fiction like The Expanse or The Martian, alerting space travelers to the level of gravity (or at least acceleration force) without having to use readouts on a dashboard. Is Snoopy up? Yes. We’re at zero-G.
From the image description on NASA’s Orion image gallery:
In this enhanced image, Snoopy stands out in a custom orange spacesuit, while Orion’s interior has been shaded black and white for contrast. The character’s spacesuit is modeled after the suit astronauts will wear during launch and reentry in Orion on future missions to the Moon. NASA has shared an association with Charles M. Schulz and Snoopy since the Apollo missions and the relationship continues under Artemis. Snoopy was selected as the zero-gravity indicator for the flight because of the inspiration and excitement the character has provided for human spaceflight for more than 50 years.