Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 18, 2023

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Apollo 10 Lunar Module over the lunar surface
Apollo 10 Lunar Module over the lunar surface

Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and designated it an "F" mission. While John Young remained in the Command and Service Module orbiting the Moon, Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan flew the Apollo Lunar Module (pictured) to within 14.4 kilometers (7.8 nmi) of the lunar surface, the point at which powered descent for landing would begin on a landing mission, before rejoining Young in the Command and Service Module. While in the Lunar Module, Stafford and Cernan photographed the site where Apollo 11 would land two months later. After orbiting the Moon 31 times over 61.6 hours, Apollo 10 returned safely to Earth, setting a record that still stands for the highest velocity achieved by a crewed spacecraft. Both Young and Cernan would walk on the Moon later in the Apollo program; Stafford flew again in 1975 on Apollo–Soyuz. (Full article...)

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