Jettisoned LM Snoopy Descent Stage Appeared Near Taruntius Crater

Summary: Jettisoned LM Snoopy descent stage appeared near Taruntius Crater during Apollo 10 Command and Service Module (CSM) Charlie Brown’s lunar orbit 29.

Two-stage lunar module comprises ascent stage (above) and leggy descent stage (below); Lunar Module (LM) 4, moved for mating with the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) in the John F. Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), flew as the Apollo 10 mission’s LM Snoopy; Jan. 13, 1969; NASA ID S69-17810: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight

Jettisoned LM Snoopy descent stage appeared near Taruntius Crater on the moon’s near side during Apollo 10 Command and Service Module (CSM) Charlie Brown’s lunar revolution number 29.

Apollo 10 was designed as a “dress rehearsal,” minus the lunar landing, for lunar-landing mission Apollo 11, scheduled to launch approximately two months later, in July. Thomas Patten Stafford (born Sept. 17, 1930) commanded the three-astronaut mission. John Watts Young (born Sept. 24, 1930) and Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934) piloted the command module and the lunar module, respectively.

The astronauts gave Peanuts comic strip characters’ names to the mission’s modules. The command and service module was given the call sign of Charlie Brown. The lunar module was named Snoopy.

The Apollo 10 space vehicle launched on time Sunday, May 18, 1969, at 16:49:00 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (11:49 p.m. Eastern Standard Time; 12:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) from central Florida’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Post Launch Mission Operation Report No. 1, released May 26, 1969, noted liftoff as “the fifth successive successful launch on-time of a Saturn V” three-stage rocket.

Three days later, on Wednesday, May 21, at 75 hours 55 minutes 54 seconds after liftoff (075:55:54.0 Ground Elapsed Time GET), the service propulsion engine commenced a 356.1-second firing to insert the spacecraft into lunar orbit. The lunar orbit insertion maneuver cut off at 076:01:50.1 GET (20:50:50 GMT/UTC; 3:50 p.m. EST, 4:50 p.m. EDT).

On Thursday, May 22, at 15:51 GMT/UTC (10:51 a.m. EST, 11:51 a.m. EDT; 09:02 GET), Commander Stafford and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Cernan transferred from Charlie Brown into Snoopy via the spacecraft’s docking tunnel. Command Module Pilot (CMP) Young remained in Charlie Brown. Undocking of the lunar and command modules occurred at 19:00:57 GMT/UTC (2 p.m. EST, 3 p.m. EDT; 098:11:57 GET).

The lunar module’s two stages were successfully separated during preparations for rendezvous with Charlie Brown. The separation, which occurred at 23:34:16 GMT/UTC (6:34 p.m. EST, 7:34 p.m. EDT; 102:45:16.9 GET), placed the descent stage into a temporary lunar orbit that would inevitably degrade into a lunar surface impact. The location of the Snoopy descent stage’s impact site is unknown.

Docking of the ascent stage and the command module occurred Friday, May 23, at 3:11:02 GMT/UTC (Thursday, May 22, at 10:11 p.m. EST, 11:11 p.m. EDT; 106:22:02 GET). The ascent stage was subsequently jettisoned, on Friday, May 23, at 05:13:36 GMT/UTC (12:13 a.m. EST, 1:13 a.m. EDT; 108:24:36 GET), for placement into a solar orbit.

During extensive landmark tracking and lunar feature photography from Command Module Charlie Brown, the three astronauts “visually acquired the LM descent stage on several occasions” (page 5). Encounters potentially posed safety threats, with the descent stage tumbling in and out of plane with the command module and moving above, below, behind and in front of the astronauts.

During the command module’s lunar orbit 29, the Apollo 10 astronauts espied Snoopy’s descent stage near the lunar near side’s Taruntius Crater. Taruntius lies on the northwestern edge of Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fecundity) in the eastern hemisphere and parents 15 satellite craters.

At about 132:16 GET, during the command module’s lunar orbit 29, Commander Stafford reported: “. . . . He’s getting awfully close. You could see the silver panels and -- there he is right down below us; he’s trying to cross the Taruntius . . . Yeah between Taruntius twins P and K. That rascal is right in-plane with us. . . .” (Apollo 10 PAO Mission Commentary Transcript, page 451/1).

At about 133:36 GET, Commander Stafford expressed the astronauts’ concerns about Snoopy’s proximity: “Yeah, I know it’s highly improbable a collision, but it’d sure ruin your whole day, if it ever happened” (453/1).

Mission Control Center’s (MCC) capsule communicator (CAPCOM) joked: “Okay. Old Snoop’s just a devoted old hound dog, Tom. He’ll probably be trying to follow you back home.”

Commander Stafford replied: “Just as long as that rascal doesn’t sniff too close” (453/3).

The takeaway for the jettisoned LM Snoopy descent stage’s appearance near Taruntius Crater on the moon’s near side is that the Apollo 10 mission’s three astronauts were concerned that the descent stage’s erratic tumblings posed a safety hazard, albeit “highly improbable,” to their spacecraft.

oblique view of Taruntius craters K and P, where Apollo 10 astronauts encountered jettisoned LM Snoopy descent stage; taken with 70mm Hasselblad by Apollo 10 mission, film magazine 31 (R); 70mm color film; NASA ID AS10-34-5134: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), No known copyright restrictions, via U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Two-stage lunar module comprises ascent stage (above) and leggy descent stage (below); Lunar Module (LM) 4, moved for mating with the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) in the John F. Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), flew as the Apollo 10 mission’s LM Snoopy; Jan. 13, 1969; NASA ID S69-17810: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Public Domain, via NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo10/html/s69-17810.html

oblique view of Taruntius craters K and P, where Apollo 10 astronauts encountered jettisoned LM Snoopy descent stage; taken with 70mm Hasselblad by Apollo 10 mission, film magazine 31 (R); 70mm color film; NASA ID AS10-34-5134: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), No known copyright restrictions, via U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) @ https://nara.getarchive.net/media/as10-31-4574-apollo-10-apollo-10-mission-image-crater-taruntius-e-and-f-c6692a

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