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USA Shell Oil - Man in Space NASA Space Mission - Apollo X 1969
Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5914373
Area
Tokens / Medals
Title
USA Shell Oil - Man in Space NASA Space Mission - Apollo X 1969
Publisher
Value
Country
Year
1969
Collection / set
Material
Weight
Variety / overstrike
Obverse
APOLLO X Stafford . Cernan . Young
Reverse
Man in Space
Privy mark
Mint mark
Designer
Engraver
Dimensions / Diameter
25.4 mm
Number
Details
Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the United States Apollo space program, and the second (after Apollo 8) to orbit the Moon. Launched on May 18, 1969, it was the F mission: a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, testing all of the components and procedures, just short of actually landing. The Lunar Module (LM) came to within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the lunar surface, the point where the powered descent to the lunar surface would begin.
Its success enabled the first landing to be attempted on Apollo 11 in July, 1969.
According to the 2002 Guinness World Records, Apollo 10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle at 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph) during the return from the Moon on May 26, 1969.
Due to the use of their names as call signs, the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA.