Space Rocket History #193 – Apollo 10 – Coasting to the Moon & Loss of Signal

Posted on January 18, 2017 by spac9750

Stafford, Cernan, and Young were the first Apollo astronauts to be free from illness during the mission, although Cernan experienced a slight vestibular disturbance. Like all their colleagues who had flown before, once they unbuckled from the couches they had a stuffy feeling in their heads. This lasted for 8 to 10 hours for Stafford and Young; Cernan gradually lost the sensation over the next two days.

Apollo 10’s View of Earth seen in MCC

Color TV from Apollo 10

The Patch for Apollo 10

Jan 04

Space Rocket History #191 – Apollo 10 – The Climb to Orbit

Posted on January 4, 2017 by spac9750

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At first stage cutoff the astronauts expected to encounter a single pulse of negative G and the crew would be thrown forward in their straps before the Second stage ignited and recommenced the acceleration. However, they actually encountered a form of pogo which continued for 4 cycles, during which they were “slammed forward, back, forward, back, forward, back, and forward, back. At this point the instrument panel was so blurred the astronauts could not read it.

Apollo 10 clears the tower

Houston on launch day

Apollo 10 ground track

Dec 21

Space Rocket History #190 – Apollo 10 – The Launch

Posted on December 21, 2016 by spac9750

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On May 18th 1969, a king, some congressmen, other distinguished guests, and a hundred thousand other watchers waited at scattered vantage points around the Cape area. At 49 minutes past noon, Rocco Petrone’s launch team sent Apollo 10 on its way to the United States’s second manned rendezvous with the moon.

Apollo 10 crew on the way to Pad 39B

Launch of Apollo 10

Apollo 10

Aug 03

Space Rocket History #171 – Apollo 8 – The Reaction

Posted on August 3, 2016 by spac9750

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New York City welcomed the Apollo 8 crew with a ticker-tape parade on the 10th of January, Newark hailed them on the 11th, and Miami greeted them on the 12th during the Super Bowl game. The Astronauts returned to Houston on the 13th for a hometown parade. Incoming President Richard M. Nixon sent Borman and his family on an eight-nation goodwill tour of western Europe. Everywhere they went, the astronauts depicted the earth as a spaceship and stressed international cooperation in space.