Apollo 10 – “a dress rehearsal of a lunar landing mission”

Let’s celebrate the Apollo 10 Mission, which gathered all the data that NASA’s team required to make that first Moon landing by the crew of Apollo 11 possible.

The historic Apollo 10 was launched on May 18, 1969, at 12:49 p.m. local time from launch pad 39B on a massive Saturn V rocket model AS-505.

Apollo 10 blasted off from Cape Kennedy for what the Associated Press named “a dress rehearsal of a lunar landing mission.” The astronauts detached the Apollo Lunar Module from the lunar orbiter and descended (but did not land) on the lunar surface. 

It was the first flight of an entire fully crewed Apollo spacecraft to go around the Moon. Furthermore, Apollo 10 was the fourth human-crewed mission in the United States. 

The astronauts consisted of Commander Thomas Stafford, Command Module Pilot John Young, and Lunar Module Pilot Eugene Cernan.

After the spacecraft made two orbits of the Earth, the engines were fired for the journey to tour only satellite, the Moon, at 20,000 miles per hour, or 32,000 km/h. 

Picture showing crew headed for the launch pad, Apollo 10 commander Tom Stafford pats the nose of a stuffed Snoopy held by Jamye Flowers (Coplin), astronaut Gordon Cooper's secretary. Credit: NASA.
Picture showing crew headed for the launch pad, Apollo 10 commander Tom Stafford pats the nose of a stuffed Snoopy held by Jamye Flowers (Coplin), astronaut Gordon Cooper’s secretary. Credit: NASA.

Apollo 10 served as the ‘dress rehearsal’ for the moon landing, and its success was highly dependent on the capabilities of the Apollo Guidance Computer, which later proved to be crucial in guiding Apollo 11 to the lunar surface.

“Apollo Site Two”

When the spaceship was 23,000 miles, about 37,000 km, from Earth, the crew aimed the camera at the planet below to show television viewers on Earth “its first color portrait” to be seen live from space.

Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, and John Young planned to orbit the Moon, with the most crucial portion being Cernan and Stafford and taking pictures of the now-famous site named “Apollo Site Two,” within the Sea of Tranquility, from a low altitude in order to prepare for the safe lunar landing of the Apollo 11 landing module.

Picture showing The Lunar Module, Snoopy, just above the Moon's surface. The orbiting spacecraft descended to 47,400 feet or about nine miles above the lunar surface before coming back to the command and service module during Apollo 10 mission. Credit: John Young/NASA.
Picture showing The Lunar Module, Snoopy, just above the Moon’s surface. The orbiting spacecraft descended to 47,400 feet or about nine miles above the lunar surface before coming back to the command and service module during the Apollo 10 mission. Credit: John Young/NASA.

So, let us all cherish this important date in history: the crew of Apollo 10 gathered all the data that helped NASA’s teams on the ground refine network tracking techniques, lunar module trajectories, and lunar flight control systems. The crew of Apollo 11 accomplished everything required for that first Moon landing.

That’s it, and thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this short article.

Want To Know More About The Moon?

If you want to know more about our Moon and especially the most prominent crater of them all, Tycho Crater? Then, visit this interesting article. You will be amazed.

Thanks for reading; see also my posts on why the Saturn V rocket was painted white and black. There’s a pretty cool answer to this one. Find out here. You will be surprised.

The new book ‘How We Got to the Moon’ will reveal a stunning look at the Apollo 11 Mission to the Moon.

Unprecedented Views of the Moon’s Surface (Video).

Below you find a video about the new and unprecedented views of the Moon’s surface. And along with a unique insight into how our Moon and other rocky satellites in our own solar system came to look the way they do. So, see some of the sights and learn more about the Moon in the video below. Credit: NASA.

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