Thursday, 28 May 2009
Monday, 25 May 2009
Monday, 18 May 2009
Apollo 10 - part 3
Launch Day
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. Photo Credit: NASA
And again, in slow motion...
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. Photo Credit: NASA
And again, in slow motion...
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Apollo 10 - part 2
Meet the Crew
Gene Cernan : John Young : Tom Stafford
Gene Cernan, whilst paving the way for the first man on the moon, was eventually to be the last man on the Moon.
John Young had flown Gemini, and went on to fly the Apollo Command Module, Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle. He also drove the Lunar Rover on the Moon.
Tom Stafford flew Gemini, Apollo and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
This was the first manned space mission to contain an all-veteran crew - the mission was very challenging and therefore proven, experienced crewmembers were selected to carry it out. This was essentially a dress rehearsal for a Moon landing, and was required to bring Stafford and Cernan's lunar module "Snoopy" to only 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) above the lunar surface.
Except for the final descent from 8.4 miles down to the surface, the landing and later Lunar liftoff, the mission was designed to simulate exactly the landing approach, and later Lunar orbit rendezvous after lift-off with the Command Module ("Charlie Brown").
For Mission Control in Houston and Apollo's extensive tracking and control network around the world this crucial, but nonetheless challenging test was intended to form a dry run for a Moon landing mission.
But remember - none of this was routine. Little of it had been done before.
And none of it had been done whilst circling the Moon, a quarter of a million miles away...
Gene Cernan : John Young : Tom Stafford
Gene Cernan, whilst paving the way for the first man on the moon, was eventually to be the last man on the Moon.
John Young had flown Gemini, and went on to fly the Apollo Command Module, Apollo Lunar Module and the Space Shuttle. He also drove the Lunar Rover on the Moon.
Tom Stafford flew Gemini, Apollo and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
This was the first manned space mission to contain an all-veteran crew - the mission was very challenging and therefore proven, experienced crewmembers were selected to carry it out. This was essentially a dress rehearsal for a Moon landing, and was required to bring Stafford and Cernan's lunar module "Snoopy" to only 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) above the lunar surface.
Except for the final descent from 8.4 miles down to the surface, the landing and later Lunar liftoff, the mission was designed to simulate exactly the landing approach, and later Lunar orbit rendezvous after lift-off with the Command Module ("Charlie Brown").
For Mission Control in Houston and Apollo's extensive tracking and control network around the world this crucial, but nonetheless challenging test was intended to form a dry run for a Moon landing mission.
But remember - none of this was routine. Little of it had been done before.
And none of it had been done whilst circling the Moon, a quarter of a million miles away...
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Apollo 10 - part 1
Coming soon - Apollo 10
Apollo 10 leaves the VAB behind as it heads towards pad 39B
The Apollo 10 mission was to be the all up test for the first manned Moon landing mission. The crew would do everything the first landing mission would do - except touch down on the Moon.
The key objectives were to be a full test of the Lunar Module in Moon orbit and perhaps the most nerve wracking of all manoeuvres, the rendezvous and docking of the Lunar and Command modules a quarter of a million miles away over the surface of the Moon. As ever, there was no hope of rescue if anything went wrong.
We'll meet the crew in a couple of days, then join us for the launch on May 18th.
Apollo 10 leaves the VAB behind as it heads towards pad 39B
The Apollo 10 mission was to be the all up test for the first manned Moon landing mission. The crew would do everything the first landing mission would do - except touch down on the Moon.
The key objectives were to be a full test of the Lunar Module in Moon orbit and perhaps the most nerve wracking of all manoeuvres, the rendezvous and docking of the Lunar and Command modules a quarter of a million miles away over the surface of the Moon. As ever, there was no hope of rescue if anything went wrong.
We'll meet the crew in a couple of days, then join us for the launch on May 18th.
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