To mark last month's 40th anniversary of the Apollo X "lunar landing dress rehearsal" mission, the Science Museum in London opened its command module Charlie Brown to visitors.
This was a one-day only opportunity for a close-up look inside the capsule in which astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan flew to the Moon in May 1969, says Douglas Millard, the museum's senior curator, ICT & space technology.
The opening took place on 23 May when exactly four decades earlier that capsule - which is the only example on display outside the USA - had been orbiting the Moon with Young at the controls as Stafford and Cernan manoeuvred lunar module Snoopy to within 8.9km (5.5 miles) of the lunar surface.
The museum expects a wave of interest in its Apollo exhibits in the coming months as NASA prepares to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's historic Moon landing, on 20 July.
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© Max Kingsley-Jones/Flight International
Apollo 10 capsule |
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© Max Kingsley-Jones/Flight International
Apollo 10 console |