Apollo 10 Imaged Near Side’s Schmidt Crater During May 1969 Lunar Orbit

Summary: Apollo 10 imaged the near side’s Schmidt Crater during lunar orbits conducted in May 1969 as a dress rehearsal for lunar-landing mission Apollo 11.

Photo obtained by the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 captured Schmidt Crater’s east side in shadow; NASA image AS10-34-5162: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA Image and Digital Library

Apollo 10 imaged the near side’s Schmidt Crater during the mission’s lunar orbits, which took place in May 1969 as a dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, the first spaceflight to land humans on Earth’s moon.

Lunar impact crater Schmidt occupies the lunar near side’s northeastern hemisphere. Schmidt is found near the southwestern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility).

The small crater is located northwest of Statio Tranquillitatis (Tranquility Base), the site where Apollo 11 Commander Neil Alden Armstrong (Aug. 5, 1930-Aug. 25, 2012) and Lunar Module Eagle Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Eugene Aldrin Jr. (born Jan. 20, 1930) became, on July 20, 1969, the first two human moonwalkers. Statio Tranquillitatis is centered at 0.67 degrees south latitude and 23.47 degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Schmidt’s center latitude and longitude register at 0.96 degrees south and 18.78 degrees east, respectively.

Schmidt’s northernmost latitude reaches 1.14 degrees north. Its southernmost latitude extends to 0.77 degrees north.

The circular crater registers its easternmost longitude at 18.96 degrees east. Its westernmost longitude occurs at 18.6 degrees east.

The bowl-shaped crater’s diameter measures 11.13 kilometers. Schmidt has a depth of 2.3 kilometers, according to American amateur astronomer Kurt Fisher’s crater database. Fisher’s source Welsh astronomer David William G. Arthur’s 1974 depth determinations for more than 1,900 small lunar craters from measured shadow lengths on Lunar Orbiter IV long-focus pictures.

The crater honors three scientists: Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt, Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt and Otto Yulyevich Schmidt. The IAU gave official approval to the crater’s name in 1935.

German astronomer and selenographer Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt (Oct. 25, 1825-Feb. 7, 1884) served as the second permanent director of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA; Greek: Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) from Dec. 16, 1858, until his death. His Chaptre der Gebirge des Mondes (Topographical Chart of the Moon), published in Berlin, Germany, in 1878, presented detailed drawings of the visible lunar surface.

German-Estonian optician Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt (April 11, 1879-Dec. 1, 1935) is credited with inventing the Schmidtspiegel, known as the Schmidt camera or Schmidt telescope, in 1930. His astrophotographic telescope gives wide fields of view with limited distortions. Schmidt’s revolutionary invention combines reflection and refraction in a catadioptric optical system via curved mirrors for reflection (catoptrics) and convex lenses for refraction (dioptrics).

Soviet astronomer, mathematician and Arctic explorer Otto Yulyevich Schmidt (Sept. 30, 1891-Sept. 7, 1956) theorized the formation of Earth from a cloud of dust and gas particles gravitationally captured by the sun and considered other astronomical problems, such as the orbits of double stars. He presented his origin hypothesis for Earth in his 1949 publication, Четыре лекции о теории происхождения Земли (Four Lectures on the Theory of the Origin of the Earth).

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo 10 Press Kit, released May 7, 1969, described Apollo 10 as a “dress rehearsal for the first manned lunar landing” (page 1). The Apollo 10 Press Kit explained the Apollo 10 mission objectives: “Although Apollo 10 will pass no closer than eight nautical miles from the lunar surface, all other aspects of the mission will be similar to the first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11, now scheduled for July” (page 8).

The Apollo 10 Press Kit noted that, in addition to the absence of a lunar landing, the mission would differ from the Apollo 11 lunar-landing mission in an element of its timeline. The Press Kit explained that, after Lunar Module Snoopy’s rendezvous with Command Module Charlie Brown, an “extra day” would be added to the Apollo 10 mission’s lunar orbit schedule.

Apollo 10 launched 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 the Kennedy Space Center’s Complex 39, Pad B, in central Florida. The mission’s crew comprised Commander Thomas Patten Stafford (born Sept. 17, 1930), Command Module Pilot (CMP) John Watts Young (born Sept. 24, 1930) and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Eugene Andrew Cernan (born March 14, 1934).

Photographic tasks numbered among the Apollo 10 astronauts’ scheduled activities. The Apollo 10 Press Kit stated: “Still and motion pictures will be made of most spacecraft maneuvers as well as of the lunar surface and of crew activities in the Apollo 10 cabin” (page 34). The astronauts fulfilled their photographic tasks with two 70mm Hasselblad still cameras and two Maurer data acquisition cameras.

The takeaway for Apollo 10’s image of the near side’s Schmidt Crater during the mission’s May 1969 lunar orbits is that the crater is located on the southwestern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis, at a center-to-center distance of 0.29 south and 4-plus degrees east of Statio Tranquillitatis (Tranquility Base), Apollo 11’s July 1969 landing site.

Apollo 11’s Tranquility Base (Statio Tranquillitatis) lies the lunar near side’s southwestern Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), southeast of Schmidt Crater; NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s capture of Apollo 11’s landing site; NASA ID PIA12925; image addition date 2009-11-09; image credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Photo obtained by the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 captured Schmidt Crater’s east side in shadow; NASA image AS10-34-5162: Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Digital Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-as10-34-5162

Apollo 11’s Tranquility Base (Statio Tranquillitatis) lies the lunar near side’s southwestern Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), southeast of Schmidt Crater; NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s capture of Apollo 11’s landing site; NASA ID PIA12925; image addition date 2009-11-09; image credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University: May be used for any purpose without prior permission, via NASA JPL Photojournal @ https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12925; Generally not subject to copyright in the United States; may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages; general permission extends to personal Web pages, via NASA Image and Digital Library @ https://images.nasa.gov/details-PIA12925

For further information:

Arthur, D.W.G. (David William). “Lunar Crater Depths From Orbiter IV Long-Focus Photographs.” Icarus, vol. 23, issue 1 (September 1974): 116-133.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1974Icar...23..116A

Baldwin, Ralph B. “Lunar Crater Counts.” The Astronomical Journal, vol. 69, no. 5 (June 1964): 377-392.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/AJ.../0069//0000392.000.html

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

Consolmagno, Guy; and Dan M. Davis. Turn Left at Orion. Fourth edition. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Dunbar, Brian; and Robert Garner, ed. “Map of Past Lunar Landing Sites.” NASA > Missions > LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter > News and Media Resources. May 13, 2009.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/moonimg_07.html

Fisher, Kurt. “Table 1 -- Digitized Apollo Era Lunar Crater Depth and Other Feature Measurements.” Kurt Fisher website.
Available @ http://fisherka.csolutionshosting.net/astronote/plan/craterdepth/html/CraterDepthFeatureName.html

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

International Astronomical Union. “Schmidt.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 18, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5374

International Astronomical Union. “Statio Tranquillitatis.” USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Last updated Oct. 25, 2010.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5684

Levy, David H. Skywatching. Revised and updated. San Francisco CA: Fog City Press, 1994.

Marriner, Derdriu. "Apollo 10 Imaged Near Side’s Triesnecker Crater During Lunar Orbit." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 14, 2014.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/05/apollo-10-imaged-near-sides-triesnecker.html

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. "Nick Howes Considers Possible Orbits for Apollo 10 Lunar Module Snoopy." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/nick-howes-considers-possible-orbits_14.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

Masursky, Harold; G.W. Colton; and Farouk El-Baz. Apollo Over the Moon: A View From the Orbit. NASA SP-362. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
Available @ https://history.nasa.gov/SP-362/contents.htm

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

O'Connor, J.J. (John Joseph); and E.F. (Edmund Frederick) Robertson. "Otto Yulyevich Schmidt." MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive University of St. Andrews School of Mathematics and Statistics > Biographies Index. July 2011.
Available @ http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Schmidt_Otto.html

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

Schmidt, J.F. (Johann Friedrich) Julius Schmidt. Charte des Gebirge des Mondes Nach Eigenen Beobachtungen in den Jahren 1840-1874. Berlin, Germany: In commission bei Dietrich Reimer, 1878.
Available via Library of Congress @ https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3195sm.gct00294/

Schmidt, Otto Yulyevich. A Theory of Earth's Origins: Four Lectures. Translated from the Russian by George H. Hanna. Third edition. Moscow, Russia: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1958.

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

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

Stafford, Thomas P.; and Michael Cassutt. We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race. Washington DC: Smithsonian Books, 2002.

Stratton, F.J.M. (Frederick John Marrian), ed. Vth General Assembly -- Transactions of the IAU Vol. V Proceedings of the 5th General Assembly Paris, France, July 10-17, 1935. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, Jan. 1, 1936.
Available @ https://www.iau.org/publications/iau/transactions_b/

U.S. Geological Survey. Color-Coded Topography and Shaded Relief Map of the Lunar Near Side and Far Side Hemispheres. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series I-2769. Page last modified Nov. 30, 2016. Flagstaff AZ: U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center, 2003.
Available via USGS Publications Warehouse @ https://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i2769/

Wade, Mark. “Apollo 10.” Astronautix > Encyclopedia Astronautica Index: A.
Available @ http://www.astronautix.com/a/apollo10.html

Whitaker, Ewen A. (Adair). Mapping and Naming the Moon: A History of Lunar Cartography and Nomenclature. Cambridge UK; New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999.