[APOLLO 10] ASCENT STAGE OF THE LM PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE CM. VINTAGE NASA "RED NUMBER" PHOTOGRAPH, 26 MAY 1969.

The Vintage NASA Photo Collection of Philip Kulpa

[APOLLO 10] 

ASCENT STAGE OF THE LM PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE CM. 26 MAY 1969.

Vintage NASA “Red Number” chromogenic color photograph, 10 by 8 inches, “A Kodak Paper” watermark, press captions printed in purple to verso. NASA image ID “NASA AS10-34-5112” printed in upper left margin in red; minor toning, minor chipping to upper margin, old tape to verso.

The present image captures the ascent stage of LM Snoopy, and was photographed from CM Charlie Brown after Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan had successfully docked with and re-entered the command module. Unlike the subsequent Apollo 11 ascent stage (and all that followed it), which was left in lunar orbit to eventually crash into the lunar surface, Snoopy's ascent stage was sent on a trajectory past the Moon into a heliocentric orbit. This was not tracked after 1969, and Snoopy's location remained unknown until 2011, when a group of amateur astronomers based in the UK started a project to search for it. The Royal Astronomical Society announced a possible rediscovery of Snoopy in 2019, positing that asteroid "2018 AV2," which is roughly the size of a school bus, is likely the capsule. The Apollo 10 LM is the only once-manned spacecraft still in outer space without a crew.