Nick Howes Considers Possible Orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy

Summary: Royal Astronomical Society Fellow Nick Howes considers possible orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy, lost in a solar orbit since May 23, 1969.

The Snoopy_ES trajectory devised by trajectory specialist Mike Loucks, based on retired NASA orbit expert Emil Schiesser’s spherical post-burn state vector, might guide Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project’s (FTP) Project Snoopy: Nick Howes to Faulkes Telescope Project, via Facebook Nov. 28, 2011

Royal Astronomical Society Fellow Nick Howes considers possible orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy, lost in an unknown orbit around the sun since Friday, May 23, 1969.

Two months ago, in September, announcements of Project Snoopy, conducted by Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project (FTP), appeared in articles published Monday, Sept. 19, by United Kingdom astronomer and Meteorwatch website creator Adrian West (moniker: VirtualAstro) in Universe Today and by science and tech journalist Alasdair Wilkings for io9 Gizmodo. Space historian Robert Zane Pearlman introduced the daunting project Tuesday, Sept. 20, in articles for Space. com and on his collectSPACE website.

In his Sept. 28, 2011, post, “Finding Snoopy,” on The Astrogator’s Guild, “Finding Snoopy,” lunar, libration-point and deep-space trajectory expert and Space Exploration Engineering (SEE) co-founder Mike Loucks (moniker: Astrogator Mike) announced his involvement with Nick Howes and the Faulkes Telescope Project. Loucks is closely collaborating with two Apollo mission veterans to determine Lunar Module Snoopy’s trajectory. Charles “Chuck” F. Deiterich operated as a Retrofire (RETRO) Officer in Mission Control at the Manned Space Center, known as the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) since Feb. 19, 1973. Emil Ray Schiesser’s responsibilities in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division (MPAD) included orbit determination.

Loucks also acknowledges invaluable input from SEE co-owner John Carrico, who posts as Astrogator John on The Astrogator’s Guild, and Galaxy Zooite Mark Redgwell (@Blackprojects). Loucks notes that he had had “several discussions (and will have several more) with my good friend John Carrico (Astrogator_John).” Loucks devised a spherical post-burn state vector from Apollo 10 transcript excerpts tweeted to him by Redgwell. The excerpts concern the post-docking separation that jettisoned Lunar Module Snoopy toward a solar orbit.

Loucks determines three possible trajectories for Lunar Module Snoopy’s departure from a lunar orbit and entrance into a solar orbit. He produces trajectory number one from Emil Schiesser’s spherical post-burn state vector. Trajectory number two derives from the Apollo 10 transcript. Schiesser’s combined pre-burn state and delta-v (∆v; orbital velocity) vector yields trajectory number three.

All three trajectories leave lunar orbit with radial velocity away from the sun. A retrograde component reduces the major semi-axis (also known as semi-major axis), which represents half of an elllipse’s major axis, or longest diameter. Snoopy’s orbital period emerges, at approximately 342 days, as shorter than Earth’s solar revoluation. Snoopy’s synodic period, the time for returning to the same position relative to the sun as seen from Earth, approximates 14.7 years.

Loucks presents graphics for the first two trajectories. Trajectory number one is labeled as Snoopy_ES_PostBurn (Snoopy_ES). Trajectory number two is referenced as Snoopy_Report_Vec (Snoopy_RV).

The trajectories reveal initial closeness to Earth after Snoopy’s expulsion from lunar orbit. Then, Snoopy’s solar orbit distanced the lunar module from Earth over the next one and one-half decades. On Thursday, Feb. 23, 1984, the two trajectories neared the Earth-sun, with placement between Earth and the sun.

Loucks’ plotting of the two trajectories’ orbital period history shows much perturbation of their orbits by Earth. His findings reveal that the “drastically different” Earth encounters and perturbations experienced by the two trajectories account for increasing spread between the two scenarios.

The graphics for Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011, find Snoopy away from Earth. Trajectory one, Snoopy_ES, bests trajectory two with a radius of 0.68 astronomical units (au) from Earth. Trajectory two, Snoopy_RV, has a radius of 1.64 au from Earth. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) defines the Sun-Earth distance as one astronomical unit, equal exactly to 149,597,870,700 meters (149,597,870.7 kilometers).

Loucks concludes that Project Snoopy is “going to be very hard” because the Apollo 10 lunar module is “both far away and receding.” He makes a hopeful assessment of Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project’s use of his calculations: “I’ll let Nick and his folks solve that. They are the gurus in that part. They know how to find asteroids and comets and have the people-power (and the mojo: Sir Patrick Moore!).”

In a Facebook post Monday, Nov. 28, Nick Howes announced the near-completion of orbital calculations for Project Snoopy. The attached graphic depicts the trajectory for Snoopy_ES.

The takeaway for Nick Howes’ consideration of possible orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy is that the Faulkes Telescope Project’s search for the lost artifact may be guided by the first trajectory devised by trajectory specialist Mike Loucks and based on retired NASA orbit expert Emil Schiesser’s post-burn state vector.

Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM) Snoopy’s ascent stage, photographed May 26, 1969, from Command Module Charlie Brown, during approach, from below, for docking; background shows near side’s eastrn limb, at about 120 degrees east longitude; red/blue diagonal line is spacecraft window; NASA ID AS10-34-5112; created Dec. 1, 1965; NAID 16682242: Access Unrestricted, Use Unrestricted, via National Archives Catalog

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The Snoopy_ES trajectory devised by trajectory specialist Mike Loucks, based on retired NASA orbit expert Emil Schiesser’s spherical post-burn state vector, might guide Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project’s (FTP) Project Snoopy: Nick Howes to Faulkes Telescope Project, via Facebook Nov. 28, 2011, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150572616589348

Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM) Snoopy’s ascent stage, photographed May 26, 1969, from Command Module Charlie Brown, during approach, from below, for docking; background shows near side’s eastrn limb, at about 120 degrees east longitude; red/blue diagonal line is spacecraft window; NASA ID AS10-34-5112; created Dec. 1, 1965; NAID 16682242: Access Unrestricted, Use Unrestricted, via National Archives Catalog @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/16682242; Public Domain, via NASA Image and Digital Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as10-34-5112; Project Apollo Archive (Apollo Image Gallery), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/21298941434; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS10-34-5112_-_Apollo_10_-_Apollo_10_Mission_image_-_LM_approaching_CSM_-_NARA_-_16682242.jpgvia NASA Human Spaceflight @ https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo10/html/as10-34-5112.html

For further information:

Ashford, Adrian R. “Faulkes Telescope Project Launched.” Sky & Telescope > Astronomy News. March 29, 2004.
Available @ https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/faulkes-telescope-project-launched/

Astrogator Mike (Mike Loucks). “Finding Snoopy.” The Astrogator’s Guild. Sept. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://astrogatorsguild.com/?p=240

Cernan, Eugene. The Last Man on the Moon: Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space. New York NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.

Dunbar, Brian; and Kathleen Zona, ed. “Snoopy Soars With NASA at Charles Schulz Museum.” NASA > News & Features > News Topics > NASA History & People. Jan. 5, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/snoopy.html

Gladden, Becca. “Nick Howes Talks Science and the Importance of Following Your Dreams.” CareerThoughts. Jan. 15, 2011.
Available @ http://careerthoughts.com/nick-howes/

Godwin, Robert, comp. and ed. Apollo 10: The NASA Mission Reports. Second edition. Burlington, Canada: Apogee Books, 2000.

Marriner, Derdriu. “Jettisoned LM Snoopy Descent Stage Appeared Near Taruntius Crater.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 11, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/jettisoned-lm-snoopy-descent-stage.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Nick Howes and Faulkes Telescope Project Seek Lost Apollo 10 LM Snoopy.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/09/nick-howes-and-faulkes-telescope.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Snoopy and Charlie Brown Are Hugging Each Other in Apollo 10 Docking.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-are-hugging.html

NASA JSC Web Team. “Apollo: 1963-1972.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/apollo.htm

NASA JSC Web. “Mission Transcripts: Apollo 10.” NASA JSC (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center) History Portal. Updated July 16, 2010.
Available @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/apollo10.htm

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “11.3 Photographic Results.” Apollo 10 Mission Report: 11.3-11.5. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission (AS-505) Post Launch Mission Operation Report No. 1. Report No. M-932-69-10. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, May 26, 1969.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/pdf/a10-postlaunch-rep.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Mission Report. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, August 1969.
Available @ https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Press Kit. Release no. 69-68. May 7, 1969. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1969.
Available @ https://www.history.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_PressKit.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Apollo 10 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription (Goss Net 1). Prepared for Data Logistics Office Test Division Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, May 1969.
Available via Johnson Space Center (JSC) History Portal @ https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/mission_trans/AS10_TEC.PDF

NickAstronomer (Nick Howes). “Faulkes Telescopes.” Space Is Ace. Oct. 19, 2011.
Available @ http://spaceisace-nickastronomer.blogspot.com/2011/10/faulkes-telescopes.html

Nick Astronomer (Nick Howes). “In the Beginning.” Space Is Ace. Oct. 18, 2011.
Available @ http://spaceisace-nickastronomer.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-beginning.html

Nick Howes‎ to Faulkes Telescope Project. “Project Snoopy to start up soon, latest orbital calculations almost complete. We may need to cone search back through a few years of archive data, and maybe see if other large survey scopes have also got data for the past few years . . . but here's a nice orbital image to whet your appetite! Complex isn't the word!” Facebook. Nov. 28, 2011.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150572616589348

Orloff, Richard W. “Apollo 10 The Fourth Mission: Testing the LM in Lunar Orbit.” Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference: 71-88. NASA History Series. NASA SP 4029. Washington DC: NASA Headquarters Office of Policy and Plans, 2000.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029.pdf

Pearlman, Robert. “The Search for Snoopy: Astronomers and Students to Look for Lost Apollo 10 Module.” collectSpace. Sept. 20, 2011.
Available @ http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-092011a.html

Pearlman, Robert Z. (Zane). “The Search for ‘Snoopy’: Astronomers & Students Hunt for NASA’s Lost Apollo 10 Module.” Space.com > Spaceflight. Sept. 20, 2011.
Available @ https://www.space.com/13010-snoopy-nasa-lost-apollo-10-lunar-module-search.html

Seligman, Courtney. “Radial Velocity.” CSeligman.com > Online Astronomy Text > Stars and Stellar Systems.
Available @ https://cseligman.com/text/stars/radialvelocity.htm

Shepard, Alan; Deke Slayton; Jay Barbree; and Howard Benedict. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon. Atlanta GA: Turner Publishing Inc., 1994.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Apollo 10 (AS-505).” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum > Missions > Apollo 10.
Available @ https://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics/apollo/apollo-program/orbital-missions/apollo10.cfm

Stanley, Will. “The Last Man on the Moon.” Science Museum Blog. Sept. 24, 2013.
Available @ https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/the-last-man-on-the-moon/

STEM Learning Limited. “Teaching Astronomy in UK Schools.” STEM Learning Limited > Resources.
Available @ https://www.stem.org.uk/elibrary/resource/31566

TRW Systems Group. Apollo 10 Mission Report Supplement 2: Guidance, Navigation, and Control Systems Performance Analysis. MSC-00126. Houston TX: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Manned Spacecraft Center, November 1969.
Available @ http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/Documents/Apollo10MissionReport-Supplement2-GuidanceAnalysis.pdf

VirtualAstro (Adrian West). “The Mission to Find the Missing Lunar Module.” Universe Today. Sept. 19, 2011.
Available @ https://www.universetoday.com/89043/the-mission-to-find-the-missing-lunar-module/

Wilkins, Alasdair. “The Search Is on for a Lost Piece of the Apollo Program’s History.” io9 Gizmodo > Space Exploration. Sept. 19, 2011.
Available @ https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-search-is-on-for-a-lost-piece-of-the-apollo-program-5841869

Williams, David R.; and E. (Edwin) Bell II, cur. “Apollo 10.” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center > NMC (NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive Master Catalog) > Spacecraft. Version 5.1.0, July 10, 2019.
Available @ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-043A

Woods, W. David; Robin Wheeler; and Ian Roberts. “Apollo 10 Image Library.” NASA History > Apollo Flight Journal > The Apollo 10 Flight Journal. 2011.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-image-library.html

Woods, W. David; Robin Wheeler; and Ian Roberts. “Apollo 10 Mission Documents.” NASA History > Apollo Flight Journal > The Apollo 10 Flight Journal. 2011.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap10fj/as10-documents.html