Astronauts Celebrate Apollo 10 Anniversary

The Apollo 10 lunar mission in 1969 laid the groundwork for the first moon landing. Wednesday, the astronauts who were on that mission are celebrating its 40 anniversary in Oklahoma.

Wednesday, May 20th 2009, 6:12 pm

By: News 9


By Charles Bassett, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- It was a dress rehearsal that was out of this world. The Apollo 10 lunar mission in 1969 laid the groundwork for the first moon landing. Wednesday, the astronauts who were on that mission are celebrating its 40 anniversary in Oklahoma.

One of the astronauts on that mission was Thomas Stafford of Weatherford. He was at the Oklahoma History Center to celebrate that historic mission.

It was a moon shot that took man closer to the lunar surface than he had ever gone before.

On May 18th, 1969 Commander Thomas Stafford along with pilot Eugene Cernan and command module pilot John Young blasted off for space. They came within 10 miles of the moon without touching down. They were mapping out the route for the first moon landing which would come two months later.

"Hello Houston, Apollo 10, we've got a beautiful view of the earth here and it's absolutely fantastic," said Apollo 10 Astronaut 10 Thomas Stafford.

It was the first time the world got to see spectacular color video from outer space. Forty years later, Stafford's fondest memory of seeing the earth from space is still vivid.

"Cernan saw it the first time and he said ‘Oh my god!' Then John Young saw it next. Being a good navy man, I won't repeat what John said. And then when I saw it. It was unbelievable. It was a little bit bigger than a basketball and it was just shrinking," said Stafford.

As for future missions to the moon, NASA has plans to return to the moon in 2018.

"I'd like to see it sooner than that," Stafford said.

Learn more about the mission and Thomas Stafford on his museum's Web site.

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