posted 05-13-2019 03:08 PM               

Apollo 10 was the second crewed flight into lunar orbit and the first to include all components of the Apollo spacecraft.

The eight-day mission was a dress rehearsal for the first human lunar landing, scheduled for July 1969, to meet President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. The flight duplicated all aspects of the landing mission with the exception of the landing itself, with Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard their Lunar Module (LM) "Snoopy" coming within 50,000 feet of the surface while John Young waited aboard the Command Module (CM) "Charlie Brown."

In addition to gaining experience navigating two spacecraft in lunar orbit, the astronauts would take the most detailed photographs yet of the Apollo 11 landing site.

This week Peanuts is celebrating the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 10 Mission. Follow along for all things Astronaut Snoopy.

posted 05-20-2019 12:37 AM               

'Rehearsal' dinner: Gala celebrates Apollo 10 moon mission's 50th anniversary

Fifty years to the day after the "dress rehearsal" for the first moon landing lifted off into history, astronauts and NASA leaders joined patrons at the mission commander's museum to celebrate Apollo 10.

The Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, Oklahoma hosted the hundreds of guests — including the institution's namesake — for the gala event on Saturday (May 18).