Apollo 10

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Apollo 10. On 18 May 1969, Thomas Stafford (cmdr), John Young (CMP) and Gene Cernan (LMP) launched from the Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39B. Young and Cernan would later return to the Moon - Young as commander of Apollo 16 and Cernan as commander of Apollo 17.

Apollo 10 was a dry-run for the Apollo 11 lunar landing. The Apollo spacecraft made it all the way to the Moon without a hitch. The Lunar Module Snoopy flew to within 15.6 km of the lunar surface, before returning to lunar orbit and docking with the CSM Charlie Brown.

Here's a photo from the NASA web site, showing the Apollo 10 Command/Service Module in lunar orbit, as seen from the Lunar module after separation.

For more information:

Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports (2000, Apogee Books, ISBN 1-896522-68-8)

We Have Capture, Tom Stafford (2002, Smithsonian Institute Press, ISBN 1-58834-070-8) Reviewed here.

The Last Man on the Moon, Gene Cernan (1999, St Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-19906-6)