Apollo 10 Lunar Module Staging

[@stevelitchfield8728]

Thanks for making this video. It has for decades been gospel that Cernan's latter day description is accurate. I seem to recall the whirling dervish version originated fairly close to the time of the incident, even though Cernan himself didn't pick up on it until later. I think there is a lesson in this. That is that memories fade, are influenced by subsequent third-party information, and sometimes become muddled to the point of total inaccuracy. And this is coming from one of the most highly trained professions in history. Remember that the next time somebody says, "I know what I saw."

[@TheRealLaughingGravy]

This is true. There's been some really interesting research on the ephemeral nature of memories. They are very pliable and can be changed by external stimuli. They are especially susceptible to manipulation during the brief time the person is attempting to recall them.

[@artyzinn7725]

I've never heard this actual footage and it does sound like a stress event for the astronauts, but their training and experience pulled them through. 11 had its own issues also worked out by the crew on landing. Shows how important the pilots were and an integral part of the whole mission to overcome system issues.

[@dionysus2006]

This was nothing compared to Gemini 8. It had a thruster stick and went into a rapid roll. Armstrong switched to a backup thruster system used during re-entry and manually got them out of it. Note that rolling doesn't change your orbit.

[@dskyyksd]

The ladder and the footpad below it look mighty big in the window after staging. The danger of recontacting the descent stage must have given them an additional momentary scare.

[@stanislavkogan]

I rememebr reading somewhere that Stafford had a pulse of 180...

[@zweidönerhoch]

12 landed almost without the use of pilots, but I could be wrong.. I'll check that again.

[@neilarmstrongsson795]

Actors my friends.

[@dionysus2006]

That was the biggest danger. There were so many reports that they almost crashed on the Moon. They never left orbit and it would have taken a significant burn to get them to crash.

[@nirvanicstudios]

Really nice to actually see this, it is a little less dramatic from what I've read, but still, It must have been quite a surprise!

[@ojkolsrud1]

It's plenty dramatic, considering that the LM ascent stage was pitching over right next to the LM descent stage. Had the former bumped into the latter, the mission could've had a tragic end right there and then.

[@penguin44ca]

Plus a gimbal lock

[@Dev36o]

The van Allen radiation belt was not even a problem we had a type of shielding against the radiation which made it possible. And we did have hardware to go to the moon

[@colroulette9337]

LOL

[@dionysus2006]

@@colroulette9337 What are you laughing about ???

[@dskyyksd]

Stafford was engaged with working the problem while Cernan was helplessly watching. The difference in their reactions and recollections makes perfect sense.

[@FlyingBoxHead]

Hardly 'helplessly watching'. He's operating and monitoring the AGS and getting burn times and delta-Vs.

[@kelvyquayo]

8:14 gives me chills

[@wernerheisenberg44]

Thank you so much for the upload. Very interesting!

[@dionysus2006]

I think some people get confused thinking that if you rotate on your axis that it changes your orbit. It doesn't. The LM was in an orbit with a apolune of 60 miles and a perilune of 50,000 ft. They could put the LM into a rotation around its axis and it will keep spinning until stopped but the orbit doesn't change. They were never 2 seconds from crashing. On Apollo 11 they started their descent to the surface at 50,000 ft and it took 9 minutes of thrust against the direction of travel to zero out their orbital velocity. With Apollo 10, when they staged, it was just explosive bolts and then the ascent stage started maneuvering with the reaction control thrusters to find the CSM due to an incorrect switch setting. There is no way this could change their orbit because it is just an axis rotation. The ascent stage engine was not on. Besides, if they had tumbled end over end 10 times they would have gone into gimbal lock and they didn't.

[@dionysus2006]

Cernan knew all this. He was just engaging in a little friendly BS. RIP Gene

[@losalamitoshighschoolalumn1446]

For students watching this clip, please note that Mission Control and the Apollo 10 Lunar Module (called Snoopy) and Command Module (called Charlie Brown) are separated by the distance between the Earth and the moon. When you listen to the Air-to-ground transmission there are times when Mission Control and the astronauts are overlapping in their talk. The reason is that there is about 239,000 miles between the Earth and Moon. Because light speed is 186,000 miles per second, there is about a 1 second lag in transmission between lunar orbit and Mission control. You hear this on the tape as overlapping communication and you can hear the astronauts respond to capcom about one second after the tape records the message.

[@jackhammer5468]

+Los Alamitos High School Alumni And it shows the physics of how you can't travel in space wihout traveling in time. Since radio signals travel so close to the speed of light, esentually, if you could ride one from Huston to the spacecraft there it would be just like talking to someone sitting right next to you. But since you can't travel in space without traveling in time it would not only appear to be a second later to us on earth, it would actually be a second later. Maybe you can do a better job of explaining that than I just did. :*>

[@tommybruner01]

+Los Alamitos High School Alumni They were separated from mission control by that distance, but not each other. The two craft were between 60 and 80 miles apart at this point.

[@goldenpacificmedia]

+Tommy Bruner You are correct that the two spacecraft are certainly within a few hundredths of a second of radio transmission time, the ATG loop is being recorded at JSC in Houston. For this reason, there is a lag between the transmission time and the recording time on Earth. This is the reason that the MOCR (mission control) might be talking at the instant that additional radio transmissions are received. I think this was the reason that the "beep" sound was added to alert the other party that the transmitting party was done talking.

[@ApolloWasReal]

+Golden Pacific Media The beep actually had a very different purpose, at least at the beginning. It was used to keep telephone line noise off the uplink to Apollo when the Capcom wasn't speaking. The tones activated muting relays at the ground station, just like the mute button you have on your phone. The tones were actually filtered out of the uplink so while we all heard them, the astronauts did not.

[@goldenpacificmedia]

Thanks for your comments!

[@Zoomer30]

Using Apollo 10 as a test of the Lunar landing abort system is akin to an early plan to use STS 1 as a test of the Return to Launch Site Abort (RTLS). Very risky and they came close to crashing into the decent stage. Apollo/STS astronaut John Young was the one who nixed the idea of doing a RTLS abort on STS 1, calling it "Russian Roulette and not knowing if the gun had real bullets or blanks".

[@5Andysalive]

half an hour later, in the CBS broadcast, they relay Nasa's information, that the Att hold/auto switch was wrong. That should be fairly obvious in the telemetry. Which was good. Because had they suspected a malfunction or technical problem, Apollo 11 would have been delayed until a conculsive answer. Nasa also said it was an error in the checklist, while the crew said they made the mistake. That's the thign i never heard a definitve answer too. Another thing: Gene Cernan keeps his book lighter on the technical details. It is more of a normal and personal biography, covering all aspects. It is actually very good at that. Missions are described in detail as experiences but not down to switches and acronyms and stuff. Staffords is more focussed on the technical details of flights and his career. However i never understood the claim that they were close to crashing. You don't just drop out of an orbit. However, seeing the decent stage go by the window extremely close must have been scary. Crashing into that would have been a REAL issue.

[@tryste_mx]

They were 2 seconds from gimbal lock, which would have made Snoopy unmaneuverable, and likely resulted in being unable to rendezvous with Charlie Brown. In such a situation, Snoopy would eventually crash into the Moon's surface.

[@dionysus2006]

@@tryste_mx They could get out of gimbal lock by spinning down the gyros and repositioning them to be at right angles to each other. Doing a 180 does nothing to change your orbit. They were not in any danger of crashing. If the whole spacecraft would have gone dead they would crash into the Moon after several years due to variations in the Moon's gravitational field but they would have run out of life support in less than a week.

[@bobrosso9147]

Someting don't jive. I saw a different vid from the lem showing them tumbling thru space. This one here....started at 2:20 and he got it under control pretty quick.

[@thedreamsdream]

Thank you for putting this together, nicely done.

[@dmbadgleywx9519]

I think that's May 22, 1969.

[@inuit97]

MIn 2:24, are these pads the real pads from the LEM? or at least the same form the rest of the missions? only asking

[@MrTitanic14]

Yep, the only difference is that the ones used on Apollo 10 weren't covered in gold foil, they're bare metal

[@occhamite]

I think I'd believe Stafford over Cernan, and the incident sure didn't look to be nearly as serious as the LMP wrote in his book. Gene seemed to remain rattled after control was reestablished, whereas the CDR seemed almost unconcerned. While one has to admire Gene's pluck, for demanding command of a mission or quit, and then proving himself to a skeptical Shepard, he was too much of a goof-off, and doesn't come across as the most reliable of the two. Look at his lunar EVA antics, and Slayton says McDivitt did quit over C's unpunished clowning and the helicopter crash.

[@occhamite]

@Brian P I wouldn't go quite that far. He was talking and acting like a complete idiot, and took a lot of criticism after the mission for going "Moon happy'.

[@occhamite]

@Brian P Cernan was acting like he had been smoking some very expensive herb. I'd agree Shepard dropped the ball. He sort of owned the turf re missions and crews, owing to his seniority and the system Slayton had in place, and put himself to the head of the line after getting back on flight status. Then he didn't take the training seriously. He was probably a hair's breadth away from the objective at Cone Crater, but hadn't studied the maps enough to really know what he should have known about the terrain.

[@neilarmstrongsson795]

Ah cernan, not a fan of his either. Isn't he the clown that took his golf clubs to the moon?

[@occhamite]

@@neilarmstrongsson795 That was Shepard, and he took only a golf club head, in his personal weight allowance. He then used a tool handle for the shaft of his golf club.

[@jackhammer5468]

Fantastic!

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

I wonder how close Snoopy was to the Descent Stage during the tumble? Was it within inches of collision? I certainly don't understand what the big fuss was about Cernan saying "Son of a Bitch"?

[@SuperBowser87]

Stanford also says God damnit. Where is that?

[@russhodgson5209]

Yeah the only time you hear Stafford is when he's talking to cc.

[@jshepard152]

Yeah. This seems to be edited.

[@ynp1978]

I think this is the flight where on the return home Houston asked how everyone felt....and Stafford replied "we are happy,hungry and horny" to which capcom said "well we have pills that will help with 2 of those things" or something like that!

[@onyourmarkphoto]

Everything was a first then. After seeing the footage, they nearly collided with the descent stage. I'll bet that's one emergency they didn't train for. Kudos to their training and Tom Stafford's piloting skills. You can hear how shaken up Gene was afterward.

[@bingosunnoon9341]

So why was the apollo in a retrograde orbit around the moon?

[@MatthewHill]

Thrilling.

[@Zoomer30_]

They were lucky that they didn't hit the descent stage.

[@HailAnts]

A _"Son of a bitch"_ and a _"Damn!"_ Heavens, I do believe I'm gettin' the vapors!!!

[@robdixson196]

Uncontrolled spinning is decidedly not good but it is also not going to crash you into the moon

[@CrazyCraigfromcraigyland]

No not the moon but the desent stage !

[@tryste_mx]

They were 2 seconds from gimbal lock, which would have made Snoopy unmaneuverable, and likely resulted in being unable to rendezvous with Charlie Brown. In such a situation, Snoopy would eventually crash into the Moon's surface.

[@romeosherman5377]

What that flying object 4:45 ?

[@scifimillerguy9162]

dirt on the film

[@commanderchaos7547]

I guess it was a star destroyer!

[@douglassmith3016]

So...is that the LEM that is ripped off of the Command Module? If so, what happened to the LEM?

[@MrEh5]

No the descent stage.

[@millimetreperfect]

Is that Charlie Duke on Capcom?

[@jshepard152]

Yes, for sure.

[@lcs1956]

Also how could they crash on the moon in 2 seconds from 13 miles up?

[@freqimann]

they could very easily run out of fuel and not have enough velocity to re-enter orbit.

[@harveymadison7528]

6.5 mps...that's how.

[@pz2233]

+lcs1956 The spacecraft could've broken up with such a high roll rate.

[@jackhammer111]

+lcs1956 he did NOT say they'd have crashed in 2 on the moon in 2 seconds. In Cernan's book someone else said if the spin increased for 2 more seconds they'd have crashed. It's a dubious claim anyway but if the craft came apart from centrifugal forces the pieces, including the crew would have orbited the moon a couple of more times before their decayed orbit would have intersected the moon. I.E, crashed into the moon.

[@dachhh]

+Carbon Crank their orbit wouldn't decay, there's no air resistance. It's possible he meant that they'd have rotated enough to collide with the descent stage.

[@Eddie42023]

2:00 you say 'March 22, 1969'. Don't you mean 'May 22, 1969'? Launch was May 18.

[@jimbase3850]

Yup literally unwatchable.

[@videowilliams]

I always wanted to know what Gene was seeing when he yee-hawed "We is down among 'em, Charlie!" Guess that's it.

[@poohbear1633]

+AwE130Archives Good Acting right? Cernan in a sound studio on Earth...

[@crmay72]

Thanks so much for uploading this! But I thought this was May of '69, not March?

[@leechjim8023]

It was May.

[@UnscannableDrew]

John Young always called everybody "Babe" for some reason.

[@ZoeTheCat]

I think it might be a Navy thing. Other teams used Babe too. Try AP-12 PDI to touchdown.

[@thisaccountisdead168]

So did Cernan. It was a common phrase in the 60's/70's.

[@TrainGuy33]

Sorry for this late reply, but Schirra also called capcom babe during Apollo 7, might be easier for them during transmissions, and maybe for a bit of humour

[@rafaelchoroco9967]

It was a term of endearmeant back then, Grissom used it & so was Mike Collins.

[@SetTheCurve]

Gotta confuse the gimbal, right babe?

[@realspacemodels]

Aww. It ends just when it was getting exciting (again)!

[@frankstephenson1746]

Is there any footage of a landing??

[@millimetreperfect]

@@frankstephenson1746 this mission didn’t land.

[@crmay72]

@@frankstephenson1746 Apollo 11 (the mission after this one) is the one that actually lands on moon. This mission was just a "dress rehearsal."

[@frankstephenson1746]

@@crmay72 oh How come all the craters are the same depth on the moon ?

[@tscoffey1]

"....babe"

[@brandaoz]

Was that Sttaforf?

[@AaronGilliland]

@@brandaoz That was Cernan. Cernan does almost all of the talking in this clip. He must've had his mic on throughout, while Stafford left his in push-to-talk mode since we're only hearing half of the conversation most of the time.

[@Tim22222]

Gotta be Cernan; he also repeatedly called Schmitt "Babe" on Apollo 17.

[@bettinadottori1361]

@@Tim22222 Definitely Cernan. He was always a weird type guy who 'thought' he was cool

[@FlyingBoxHead]

@@bettinadottori1361 Just a red blooded naval aviator. Conrad, Bean and Young were almost just as exuberant.

[@lijiang2743]

During the Apollo 9-10 mission, Apollo 10 was scheduled to do a 10 km orbit above the Moon without landing, but that didn't work. Something made the LEM "Snoopy" spin around until 2 seconds to crash, Snoopy finally regained control and separated the descent stage, then immediately headed for the CSM before it was too late. Snoopy's mission was over and the next LEM to fly was for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. That would be Eagle thorought the Apollo 11 mission.

[@VyoamX]

2:15 THAT anomalous roll.

[@angelsimeonov10]

If this people were not straped as shown, if the module makes radical movements they would have been trashed around. In plane you have to use seat belt, on loonar module no :)

[@Cheradanine]

They were strapped in.

[@danmaltby3271]

I'm sure it was scary as shit, just imagine your craft flips for no apparent reason

[@ROONTANG]

It would be a scary thing even on earth, much less the moon! If you crash up there, there's no recovery crew waiting...

[@batmmannn]

Dan Maltby Yep so scary in the simulator with Kubrik Outside Yelling "Cut that's a Wrap!"

[@poohbear1633]

***** HAHAHA all you Moonies can do is rant like Junior High Kids... It's funny. It's over. NASA IS BUSTED! People are learning about the NASA lies and you can't stop it no matter how much you foam at the mouth. Insult me some more... won't change what's happening in the World. You are just another one of the NASholes! Go look at the rants on Facebook whenever a pro Apollo post is posted. People go on the attack immediately.

[@poohbear1633]

***** No Diagnosis, College graduate. Just give it up. NASA has been Busted.

[@jackhammer111]

+Batmmannn You are the the poster child for the generation that was handed all of the information in the world at your fingertips and have squandered it for a make believe world based on the stupid notion something is real because you voted it real. You're is a comic book world. My generation did the impossible and handed you exactly how we did it, and connected you to a network that gave you thousands of ways to confirm it. Just because how it was done is over your head does NOT mean it wasn't done. They did the mathematically impossible by getting up every day and solving a little more of the problem, day after day, month after month year after year, then putting the variables in the hands of a human pilot and primitive computers in real time. They did it, and did it again, and again, and again. Your "proof" doesn't exist outside the comic book false world of facebook, youtube, twitter et all. I challenge you to bring us your proof from outside your bubble. but you won't because it's too much effort and you have to get back to your comic books and crayon world and check facebook to see if Lady Gaga farted this morning. at this point you are of no real value. Hopefully, you're grow out of it. You are really stupid enough to believe that these men that were all career pilots of at the top of their profession, who's life histories can be easily verified would suddenly turn into lying patsies and tools of a conspiracy and remain so the rest of their lives. No deathbed confessions, no friends or family member stepping forth and tearfully confessing that they have to finally tell the truth. You don't have any idea of how a career pilot has to live in a reality based world, or die. Big lies like that are against their nature. They would have had to send them to acting school to lie. As someone who read the books of the space projects as a jr high school student and at age 19 watched on TV as Armstrong stepped on the moon then walked to the front yard and stared at the full moon knowing humans were on it, then years later meeting people in the early Silicon Valley days that had actually worked for Raytheon programming the Apollo computers and now were programming for early pre-windows PC makers and chip designers, I cannot help taking it as a personal insult to hear you say I am from a generation of liars and fraudsters. Questioning and seeking truth were the pillars of my generation. I'm a counterculture baby boomer and it's not my fault that you need to compensate for the fact your generation doesn't measure up by trying to falsify mine. I could show you literally hundreds of ways outside your bubble to verify the moon shots really happen. I can't think of anything in American history more well documented. What have you got? Without a doubt people I've known in my life that believe in conspiracy theories have been the dumbest. And worse than that, they have been the least creative, least interesting and (the biggest insult I can give) the most boring. Actually your comments are boring. But such ignorance has to be answered lest anyone think by staying silent I agree.

[@Tim22222]

So how low did 10 actually get? Did they initiate PDI & then bail, or did they not get that far?

[@ovalhunter488]

50,000 ft.

[@chrismofer]

8:14 daamn lmao morbid humor

[@litespeed65]

It's too bad that Tom commanded this mission and lost a chance at a future Lunar landing. Cernan just sounds excitable.

[@JStarStar00]

Stafford was named commander of ASTP, which was considered quite an important role. If NASA was really upset with his performance, they would have yanked him out of the flight rotation as they did the crew of Apollo 7 and Gordon Cooper.

[@donb1183]

@@JStarStar00 There was controversy over naming Cernan commander of Apollo 17. It would seem that the mistake here on Apollo 10 was his. While on the backup crew for Apollo 14 Cernan crashed a helicopter while showboating. Many thought Dick Gordon should be Apollo 17 commnader. When Cernan was named, McDivitt resigned as Apollo program manager.

[@donb1183]

@@JohnyG29 Any of the remaining veteran astronauts would have been capable commanders as well. Gordon, Haise, Anders. Cernan performed well, no doubt, but shouldn't have been rewarded for violating flight rules. McDivitt who was and is well respected resigned over this decision.

[@gaiusmarius8628]

good staging,huh?

[@sonnyburnett8725]

If I had been Tom Stafford, I would have told Gene Cernan to ZIP IT!!!! Cockpits don't need a chatty Kathy when things are a little wild or tense.....Geez!

[@sonnyburnett8725]

Actually he knew better. As a trained pilot when conducting a procedure this important it's basic training to use the challenge and response technique. If both guys are calling out the same items it can get very confusing. But hey, they made it.

[@ZoeTheCat]

He knew how close they came to death. I think he was fine. He was doing all the right things and merely reporting progress and asking for confirmation on AGS/PNGS. You could tell he was nervously restraining himself. Pretty intense though.

[@zaynlaurent_alt]

the original clip has more of stafford talking, I wonder why this one cut it out?

[@yatpaysarchives]

Looking at the transcript, Stafford was talking just about as much. His audio just isn't on this clip. If you look up "Apollo 10 Onboard Voice Transcription-Lunar Module" from NASA, LM staging occurs on page 212.

[@mccitstudent]

...and stop calling me “babe”!😁

[@TDog-ic7do]

The bravest men in human history.

[@federicocanale3985]

2:18 LOL

[@ShimmerTheKintopian]

lol? they lost control and were bout' to die

[@CARETAKER89able]

Better team than 11.Could of Landed!!

[@MrYoumitube]

No way, to many ego's. You need the coolest under pressure and as Charlie Duke said there no one cooler to fly with then Neil Armstrong.

[@fez3327]

@@MrYoumitube The lander was not fully fueled for landing/liftoff on this mission anyway (said Cernan). I knew both Cernan and Armstrong.

[@jshepard152]

@@fez3327 The lander was an early version that was over weight. That was the real issue.

[@fez3327]

@@jshepard152 Ok... I'll ignore what Cernan and others who were there have said.

[@jshepard152]

@@fez3327 I'm not disputing what Cernan said. The two go hand in hand. If you have a heavy lander then normal fuel load becomes insufficient.

[@SuperBowser87]

That's not the correct audio for this film.

[@gabrielbirdsong3120]

I dont know about you but I saw way more globed cities than I did craters. research your convex concave shadow apertures. the difference is easy once your eyes are trained. or what about that object near the end that looked like an upside down canoe, with shadow under it.

[@yahushuajahweh1418]

We se staging its about right

[@suekennedy8917]

Does anyone know why there is no video showing the astronauts inside the fake LEM as it was descending to the fake moon. Where are the bungee cords used to hold down the astronauts in their pressure suits with their helmets on.

[@michaelgrey7854]

Your Fake right bitch.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

You can’t maneuver anything in vacuum . Absolutely nothing to push on. 👍

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

You need to go back to school

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

@Mudkip909 to push in what ? It is a vacuum.

[@GuardianSoulkeeper]

Conservation of momentum, sweetie.

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

@@vintagepipesnightmares You really do need to go back to school..

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

@@GuardianSoulkeeper at 17k miles per hour you just spray gas….in a vacuum 😂You are such a victim!

[@Solidgoldgoonie]

That Kubrick sure can make a good science fiction flick, its a good thing Hal was good with the joystick to get that starship back under control, whew!

[@theinfiniteblackvoid234]

Quiet, Children.

[@deputydog7669]

Russian students will send a fucking rover to prove what nasa wont and cant::)))still waiting for life to go beyond low earth orbit::)))

[@RevolverAnthology]

Staging being a very apt word!

[@theinfiniteblackvoid234]

I know, all the world's a STAGE ! Kubrick said so HIMSELF !!!

[@Rehash84]

"Cunt" is more apt.

[@MrBarrynicholas]

WOW it almost looks real.

[@gradyseasons8800]

People actually believe this? 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@KD-cg9iq]

Nicely staged alright.

[@batmmannn]

More Fake Drama , they never went to the Moon. Nice video of the Moon Models they used though.

[@poohbear1633]

T Honyock All insults and no answers to the tremendous evidence building and the admission of NASA that they indeed faked it by revealing they still can't handle the Van Allen belts, the dust of other worlds and have no reentry shield for long journey reentry. Whatever dude. They faked it. Get over your sadness and broken heart and find a new hero to worship.

[@Hairysteed]

batmmannn Why don't you go piss on somebody else's feet!

[@poohbear1633]

Hairysteed Why don't you go sit on a corner and scream your NASA bullshit to the people walking by. It's proven they faked it a hundred times over. Go cry somewhere else if you can't take the disappointment. Go look at the outrage from the public for the Smithsonian launching a Starter campaign to raise fund for Armstrong's pretend Moon Suit. The word is out. NASA just keeps pushing the fucking lie and it's disgusting! They're sucking money from the public to restore a Moon suit that never left low Earth Orbit. What a FUCKING JOKE. Go read the damned comments all over the Web people are outraged.

[@Hairysteed]

Batmmannn right... comments are what prove things. Making bullshit claims about things they don't understand and covering their ears when they're refuted. BTW, NASA isn't the only space agency in the world

[@poohbear1633]

Hairysteed OK man Whatever, keep drinking the NASA Koolaid. Makes no difference to me.