Space Rocket History #186 – Apollo 10 – Commander Thomas P. Stafford

Posted on November 23, 2016 by spac9750

Thomas P. Stafford was the first member of his Naval Academy Class of 1952 to pin on the first, second, and third stars of a General Officer. He flew six rendezvous in space; logged 507 hours and 43 minutes in space flight and wore the Air Force command Pilot Astronaut Wings. He has flown over 127 different types of aircraft and helicopters and four different types of spacecraft.

Stafford & Cernan training in the LM

Apollo 10 crew inspect the emergency slide

Apollo 10 crew in front of the launch pad

Nov 16

Space Rocket History #185 – Apollo 10 – Preparations

Posted on November 16, 2016 by spac9750

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Although the contractors had shipped excellent spacecrafts, preparations at Kennedy did not go quickly from the assembly building to the launch pad. Testing was delayed several days in order to stay out of the way of Apollo 9 pre-flight activities. Also during maintenance to the Launch Control Center, the electrical power was switched off to replace a valve. The Apollo 10 launch vehicle’s pneumatic controls sensed the power outage, opened some valves and dumped 20,000 liters of fuel on the launch pad.

Apollo 10 logo

Apollo 10 roll out

Apollo 10 and crew

Nov 09

Space Rocket History #184 – Apollo 9 – The Return

Posted on November 9, 2016 by spac9750

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Even before crawling back into the command module, McDivitt said he was tired and ready for a three-day holiday. Another 140 hours would pass before touchdown in the Atlantic, but the crew had achieved more than 90 percent of the mission objectives.