Have you been wondering what the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (better known as NASA) was working on exactly 56 years ago this month? Wonder no more! Thanks to the agency's Aeronautics and Space Report, as well as the Cinecraft, Inc. films collection, we know exactly what NASA was up to in April of 1969:
The report chronicles NASA's preparation for the Apollo 10 lunar mission, which served as the "final test of the men and machines" that would be needed to land humans on the moon. Featured in the report is a detailed explanation of the mission's objectives by flight director Glynn Lunney, and profiles on the participating astronauts: Thomas Stafford, Eugene "Gene" Cernan, and John Young. It also presents information on the construction and testing of various Apollo 10 spacecraft components in facilities around the United States.
Apollo 10 launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida (now Cape Canaveral) on May 18, 1969. The astronauts spent eight days in space, orbiting the moon and fine tuning the procedures that would be used two months later by Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. It was an integral step in NASA's Apollo Program and helped to enhance the safety of the succeeding missions.
Ona Coughlan is the Audiovisual Digitization Archivist at Hagley Museum and Library