Apollo 10

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apollo 10
Mission insignia
Mission statistics[1]
Mission name Apollo 10
Command Module CM-106
callsign Charlie Brown
mass 28,830 kg
Service Module SM-106
Lunar Module LM-4
callsign Snoopy
mass 13,941 kg
Crew size 3
Booster Saturn V SA-505
Launch pad LC 39B
Kennedy Space Center
Florida, USA
Launch date May 18, 1969
16:49:00 UTC
Time in lunar orbit 2 d 13 h 37 m 23 s
Landing May 26, 1969
16:52:23 UTC
15°2′S, 164°39′W
Mission duration 8 d 00 h 03 m 23 s
Crew photo
Left to right: Cernan, Stafford, Young
Left to right: Cernan, Stafford, Young
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission
Apollo 9 Apollo 11

Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon, and the test of the lunar module in lunar orbit. The module came to within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the lunar surface during practice maneuvers. According to the 2001 Guinness World Records Apollo 10 has the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle: 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph). The speed record was set during the return from the Moon on 26 May 1969.

While not included in the official mission logo, due to the use of their names as callsigns, the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission.[2][3] Peanuts creator Charles Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA.

Contents

[edit] Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.

[edit] Backup Crew

[edit] Support Crew

[edit] Flight Directors

  • Glynn Lunney, Black team
  • Gerald Griffin, Gold team
  • Milton Windler, Maroon team
  • Pete Frank, Orange team

[edit] Mission parameters

  • Mass: CSM 28,834 kg; LM 13,941 kg

[edit] Earth Orbit

[edit] Lunar Orbit

[edit] LM - CSM Docking

[edit] LM closest approach to lunar surface

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 landing site). The lowest measured point in the trajectory was 15.6 km above the lunar surface at 21:29:43 UTC.

[edit] Mission highlights

This dress rehearsal for a Moon landing brought Stafford and Cernan's lunar module Snoopy 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, 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 while Stafford and Cernan flew separately in the LM. They checked out the LM'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 Tranquillity. The lunar module on this flight was not equipped to land, however. Apollo 10 also added another first—broadcasting live color TV from space.

The command module is displayed at the Science Museum in London. The lunar module is in heliocentric orbit, thus making it the only intact lunar module ascent stage out of all of the lunar modules sent into space (Apollos 5, 9, 13 LM ascent stages burned up in Earth's atmosphere, Apollo 11 LM ascent stage left in lunar orbit - eventually crashed on moon, Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 LM ascent stages deliberately crashed into moon) .

[edit] 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.

[edit] Images

The S-IC first stage in the VAB

Apollo 10 during rollout (NASA)

CSM "Charlie Brown" (NASA)

Apollo 10 view of Earth rise. (NASA)

The crew poses with their launch vehicle. Left to right, Cernan, Young, Stafford.

Crew boarding the command module before launch

The Command Module, photographed in December 2007.

Recovery by a SH-3D of HS-4 from USS Princeton

[edit] Capsule location

The Apollo 10 Command Module Charlie Brown is on display at the Science Museum (London), United Kingdom.

The Lunar Module Snoopy is in heliocentric orbit.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Richard W. Orloff. Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (SP-4029). NASA.
  2. ^ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/AS10/10075138.jpg
  3. ^ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/mirrors/images/images/pao/AS10/10075088.jpg

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
v • d • e
Missions of the Apollo program
Apollo Program insignia