Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program, and the first mission to launch from pad 39B. 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.
The speed record was set during the return from the Moon on the 26 May, 1969.

Crew

Thomas Stafford (3), commander
John Young (3), command module pilot
Eugene Cernan (2), lunar module pilot
Backup Crew
Gordon Cooper, commander
Donn Eisele, command module pilot
Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot
Support Crew
Charles Duke
Joe Engle
James Irwin
Jack Lousma
Mission Parameters
Mass: CSM 28,834 kg; LM 13,941 kg
Perigee: 184.5 km
Apogee: 190 km
Inclination: 32.5°
Period: 88.1 min
Perilune: 111.1 km
Apolune: 316.7 km
Inclination: 1.2°
Period: 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 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 dress rehearsal for a Moon landing brought Stafford and Cernan's lunar module nicknamed "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 LM and the command/service module separated, then redocked, top to top. Upon reaching lunar orbit, they separated again. While Young orbited the Moon alone in his command module "Charlie Brown," Stafford and Cernan 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. This test article of the lunar module was not equipped to land, however. Apollo 10 also added another first-broadcasting live color TV from space.

On May 22, 1969 Apollo 10's lunar module flew within 15.6 km of the Moon's surface.

Launched: May 18, 1969 from Pad 39B
:Returned: May 26, 1969
:Crew members: Tom Stafford, commander; John Young, command module pilot; Gene Cernan, lunar module pilot
:Command module: Charlie Brown
:Lunar module: Snoopy

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) .

Image:Ap10-KSC-68C-7912.jpg|The S-IC first stage in the VAB
Image:Ap10-KSC-69PC-110.jpg|Apollo 10 during rollout (NASA)
Image:As10-27-3881.jpg|CSM "Charlie Brown" (NASA)
Image:As10-345117.jpg|LM "Snoopy" (NASA)
Image:Apollo_10_earthrise.jpg|Apollo 10 view of Earth rise. (NASA)