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Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon and an all-up test of the lunar module
Apollo Lunar Module

The Apollo Lunar Module was the Lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the United States Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back....
 (LM) in lunar orbit. The LM came to within 8.4 nautical mile
Nautical mile

A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. It corresponds approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian .It is a non-International System of Units unit used especially by navigators in the shipping and aviation industries....
s (15.6 km) of the lunar surface during practice maneuvers.

According to the 2001 Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing an internationally recognized...
 Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph).






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Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon and an all-up test of the lunar module
Apollo Lunar Module

The Apollo Lunar Module was the Lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the United States Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back....
 (LM) in lunar orbit. The LM came to within 8.4 nautical mile
Nautical mile

A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of length. It corresponds approximately to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian .It is a non-International System of Units unit used especially by navigators in the shipping and aviation industries....
s (15.6 km) of the lunar surface during practice maneuvers.

According to the 2001 Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing an internationally recognized...
 Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph). The speed record was set during the return from the Moon on May 26, 1969.

While not included in the official mission logo due to the use of their names only as callsigns, the Peanuts
Peanuts

Peanuts is a print syndication daily strip and Sunday strip comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 , continuing in reruns afterward....
 characters Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown

Charles "Charlie" Brown is the main character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie Brown is an example of "the great Amer...
 and Snoopy
Snoopy

Snoopy is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character ? and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world....
 became semi-official mascots for the mission. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
  • Thomas P. Stafford
    Thomas Patten Stafford

    Thomas Patten Stafford is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General and a former NASA astronaut. He is one of only List_of_Apollo_astronauts#People_who_flew_around_the_Moon_without_landing....
     (3) - Commander
  • John W. Young (3) - Command Module Pilot
  • Eugene A. Cernan (2) - Lunar Module Pilot


Backup crew

  • L. Gordon Cooper, Jr
    Gordon Cooper

    Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., also noted as Gordo Cooper, was an United States astronaut. Cooper was one of the Mercury Seven in Project Mercury, the first manned-space effort by the United States....
     - Commander
  • Donn F. Eisele
    Donn F. Eisele

    Donn Fulton Eisele , born in Columbus, Ohio, was a test pilot in the United States Air Force and a NASA astronaut....
     - Command Module Pilot
  • Edgar D. Mitchell - Lunar Module Pilot


Support crew

  • Charles M. Duke, Jr
  • Joseph H. Engle
  • James B. Irwin
    James Irwin

    James Benson Irwin was an United States astronaut. He is of Scottish American and Irish American descent. He served as Apollo Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing; List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon....
  • Jack R. Lousma


Flight directors

  • Glynn Lunney
    Glynn Lunney

    Glynn S. Lunney is a retired NASA engineer. An employee of NASA since its foundation in 1958, Lunney was a flight controller during the Project Gemini and Project Apollo programs, and was on duty during historic events such as the Apollo 11 lunar ascent and the pivotal hours of the Apollo 13 crisis....
    , Black team
  • Gerry Griffin, Gold team
  • Milton Windler, Maroon team
  • Pete Frank, Orange team


Crew notes

By the normal rotation in place during Apollo this crew would have been scheduled to fly on Apollo 13
Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander Jim Lovell, Command Module pilot Jack Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W....
. However, Al Shepard was given the command slot instead. Cooper was enraged and resigned from NASA. Later, Shepard's crew was forced to switch places with Jim Lovell's
Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander Jim Lovell, Command Module pilot Jack Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W....
 tentative Apollo 14
Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the Moon. The 9 day mission was launched on January 31 1971, with lunar touch down on February 5....
 crew.

However, Deke Slayton recollected in his memoirs that Cooper and Eisele were never intended to rotate to another mission as both were out of favor with NASA management for various reasons (Cooper for his lax attitude towards training and Eisele for incidents aboard Apollo 7
Apollo 7

Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-man American space mission....
 and an extra-marital affair) and were assigned to the backup crew simply because of a lack of qualified manpower in the Astronaut Office at the time the assignment needed to be made. Cooper, Slayton noted, had a very small chance of receiving the Apollo 13
Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander Jim Lovell, Command Module pilot Jack Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W....
 command if he did an outstanding job with the assignment, which he didn't. Eisele, despite his issues with management, was always intended for future assignment to the Apollo Applications Program
Apollo Applications program

The Apollo Applications Program was established by NASA headquarters in 1968 to develop science-based manned space missions using surplus material from the Apollo program....
 (which was eventually cut down to only the Skylab
Skylab

Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit, and the second space station ever visited by a human crew. The 100 ton space station was in Earth's orbit from 1973 to 1979, and it was visited by crews three times in 1973 and 1974....
 component) and not a lunar mission.

Mission parameters

  • Mass
    Mass

    In physical science, mass refers to the degree of acceleration a body acquires when subject to a force: bodies with greater mass are accelerated less by the same force....
    :     CSM 28,834 kg; LM 13,941 kg


Earth orbit

  • Perigee: 184.5 km
  • Apogee: 190 km
  • Inclination
    Inclination

    Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or Axis_of_rotation of direction. The axial tilt is expressed as the angle made by the planet's axis and a line drawn through the planet's center perpendicular to the orbital plane....
    :     32.5°
  • Period
    Orbital period

    The orbital Periodicity is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars....
    :     88.1 min


Lunar orbit

  • Perilune: 111.1 km
  • Apolune: 316.7 km
  • Inclination
    Inclination

    Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or Axis_of_rotation of direction. The axial tilt is expressed as the angle made by the planet's axis and a line drawn through the planet's center perpendicular to the orbital plane....
    :     1.2°
  • Period
    Orbital period

    The orbital Periodicity is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars....
    :     2.15 hours


LM - CSM docking

  • Undocked: May 22, 1969 - 19:00:57 UTC
  • Redocked: May 23, 1969 - 03:11:02 UTC


LM closest approach to lunar surface

  • May 22, 1969, 21:29:43 UTC


On May 22, 1969 at 20:35:02 UTC, a 27.4 second LM descent propulsion system burn inserted the LM into a descent orbit of 112.8 km by 15.7 km so that the resulting lowest point in the orbit occurred about 15° from lunar landing site 2 (the Apollo 11
Apollo 11

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Apollo program and the third human voyage to the Moon....
 landing site). The lowest measured point in the trajectory was 15.6 km above the lunar surface at 21:29:43 UTC.

Mission highlights

This was the first manned space mission to contain an all-veteran crew.

This dress rehearsal for a Moon landing
Moon landing

A moon landing is the arrival of an intact manned or unmanned spacecraft on the surface of a planet's natural satellite. The concept has been a goal of humankind since it was first appreciated that the Moon is Earth's closest large celestial body....
 brought Stafford and Cernan's lunar module Snoopy
Snoopy

Snoopy is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly ordinary dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character ? and among the most recognizable comic characters in the world....
 to 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) from the lunar surface. Except for that final stretch, the mission went exactly as a landing would have gone, both in space and on the ground, where Apollo's extensive tracking and control network was put through a dry run.

Shortly after leaving low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit

A Low Earth Orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the Locus extending from the Earth?s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km. Given the rapid orbital decay of objects below approximately 200 km, the commonly accepted definition for LEO is between 160 - 2,000 km above the Earth surface....
, the command/service module separated from the S-IVB stage, turned around, and docked its nose to the top of the lunar module still nestled in the S-IVB. The CSM/LM stack then separated from the S-IVB for the trip to the moon.

Upon reaching lunar orbit, Young remained alone in command module Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown

Charles "Charlie" Brown is the main character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie Brown is an example of "the great Amer...
 while Stafford and Cernan flew separately in the LM. The LM crew checked out their craft's radar and ascent engine, rode out a momentary gyration in the lunar lander's motion (due to a faulty switch setting), and surveyed the Apollo 11 landing site in the Sea of Tranquility. The lunar module on this flight was not equipped to land, however.

Apollo 10 added another first by broadcasting live color TV from space.

Hardware disposition


The Apollo 10 LM ascent stage is in heliocentric orbit
Heliocentric orbit

A heliocentric orbit is an orbit around the Sun. In our Solar System, all planets, comets, and asteroids are in such orbits, as are many artificial Space probe and pieces of Space debris....
 making it the sole intact lunar module ascent stage remaining out of the 10 true LMs sent into space. The Apollo 5
Apollo 5

Apollo 5 was the first unmanned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module, which would later carry astronauts to the lunar surface....
, 9
Apollo 9

Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Apollo Command/Service Module along with the Apollo Lunar Module . Its three-person crew of Mission Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart tested several aspects critical to landing on the moon including the LM engines, backpack life suppo...
, 13
Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States. The crew members were Commander Jim Lovell, Command Module pilot Jack Swigert, and Lunar Module pilot Fred W....
 LM ascent stages burned up in Earth's atmosphere (as did the Lunar Test Article LTA-B flown as ballast
Ballast

Ballast may mean:Objects:* Ballast tanks, a device used on ships and submarines and other submersibles to control buoyancy and stability...
 aboard Apollo 8
Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the first manned space voyage to achieve a velocity sufficient to allow escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first manned voyage to return to planet Earth from another celestial body....
), the Apollo 11
Apollo 11

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Apollo program and the third human voyage to the Moon....
 and 16
Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was the tenth manned mission in the Apollo program, the fifth mission to land on the Moon and the first to land in the highlands area....
 LM ascent stages were left in lunar orbit and crashed onto the moon when their orbits decayed, and the Apollo 12
Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon....
, 14
Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the Moon. The 9 day mission was launched on January 31 1971, with lunar touch down on February 5....
, 15
Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous missions....
 and 17
Apollo 17

Apollo 17 was the eleventh Human spaceflight in the NASA Apollo program. It was the first night launch of a United States human spaceflight and the sixth and final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program....
 LM ascent stages were deliberately crashed onto the moon in order to obtain seismic readings from the seismometers placed on the lunar surface.

The Apollo 10 LM descent stage is expected to have crashed onto the lunar surface, but the exact location is unknown.

The Apollo 10 Command Module Charlie Brown is currently on temporary display at the Science Museum
Science Museum (London)

The Science Museum on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, with a permanent display in at the Stafford Air & Space Museum
Stafford Air & Space Museum

The Stafford Air & Space Museum is located in Weatherford, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA. The museum features exhibits about aviation, space exploration and rocketry, and a collection of over 20 historic aircraft....
 in Oklahoma tentatively planned for 2012.

Mission insignia

The shield-shaped emblem for the flight shows a large, three-dimensional Roman numeral X sitting on the moon's surface, in Stafford's words, "to show that we had left our mark." Although it did not land on the moon, the prominence of the number represents the significant contributions the mission made to the Apollo program. A CSM circles the moon as an LM ascent stage flies up from its low pass over the lunar surface. The earth is visible in the background. A wide, light blue border carries the word APOLLO at the top and the crew names around the bottom. The patch is trimmed in gold. The insignia was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International.

Images



See also

  • Splashdown (spacecraft landing)
    Splashdown (spacecraft landing)

    Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by American manned spacecraft prior to the Space Shuttle program....
  • List of artificial objects on the Moon
    List of artificial objects on the Moon

    The following table is a partial list of artificial objects on the surface of the Moon. The list does not include smaller objects such as the retroreflectors and Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package....


External links

  • Video
  • ApolloTV.net Video