Apollo 10
Apollo 10, in May 1969, was the full dress rehearsal for the Moon landing. Stafford, Young and Cernan took the lunar module to within 15 km of the surface — everything except the landing itself.
◉ REÁLNÉ FOTO · NASA / images.nasa.govContents
living encyclopedia entrypollo 10 tested the entire lunar landing sequence except the final fifteen kilometres. The lunar module “Snoopy” separated, descended low over the surface and safely returned to the command module “Charlie Brown”.
A veteran of Gemini 6A (1965, the first rendezvous in space) and Gemini 9A (1966). After Apollo 10 he became Chief Astronaut and in 1975 commanded the American side of the Apollo–Soyuz mission.
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A veteran of Gemini 3 (1965) and Gemini 10 (1966). On Apollo 10 he became the first person in history left alone in orbit around another world. He later commanded the Apollo 16 landing (1972) and two Space Shuttle flights.
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A veteran of Gemini 9A (1966). On Apollo 10, aboard the Snoopy module, he came closer to the lunar surface than anyone before an actual landing mission. In 1972, as commander of Apollo 17, he became — so far — the last person to have stood on the Moon.
open person →When the descent stage was jettisoned, a mis-set switch made the module tumble before Cernan regained control. On the way back from the Moon the craft reached 39,897 km/h — the fastest humans have ever travelled, a record that still stands.
Apollo 10 was tasked with rehearsing the entire Moon-landing procedure — except the landing itself. NASA officially called the…
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After entering lunar orbit, Stafford and Cernan undocked Snoopy from Charlie Brown — making John Young the first person left…
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A shortened, 42-hour trajectory back to Earth gave Apollo 10 an unintended record: on 26 May 1969 the ship reached 39,897 km/h…
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MISSION IN NUMBERS
- Apollo 10 still holds the record for the highest speed a human has ever travelled — 39,897 km/h during the return to Earth.
- The Snoopy lunar module was deliberately under-fuelled so the crew could not physically land on the Moon.
- During Snoopy’s uncontrolled tumble, Cernan swore into a live, broadcast microphone, prompting complaints back on Earth.
- The call signs “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy” came from the Peanuts comic strip; cartoonist Charles Schulz drew accompanying artwork for NASA.
- The crew became the first to shave during a spaceflight — a razor had previously been considered a safety hazard.
- Since they never touched the lunar surface, the crew did not need to quarantine after splashdown like later landing missions.
