Apollo/Saturn V Rocket Liftoff

Creator

Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Preview

Creation Date

5-18-1969

Description

May 18, 1969

Caption: “KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – An Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle carrying Apollo 10 astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan lifted off at 12:49 p.m., DST, May 18, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B. The 363-foot-high vehicle launched the astronauts on the first leg of their 73-hour, 240,000-mile-journey to the moon. Apollo 10 is a dress rehearsal for the first lunar touchdown. During Apollo 10, Stafford and Cernan will descend in a lunar module spacecraft to within eight nautical miles of the Moon’s surface while Young pilots the command module at an altitude of 60 nautical miles. Following an eight-and-a-half-hour exercise, Stafford and Cernan will rendezvous and dock their lunar module with the command module and return to the mother ship for the remainder of their 60 hours or 30 revolutions in lunar orbit. The astronauts will conduct lunar navigation tasks and will photograph Apollo landing sites in order to provide information for the succeeding landing mission. Several color television transmissions are planned during the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s eight-day mission. (The Saturn V generates a liftoff thrust of 7.7 million pounds).”