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Lot 222
[Apollo 10] THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF THE PATHFINDER MISSION TO ANOTHER WORLD NASA, 26 May 1969
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€300 - €500
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[Apollo 10] THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF THE PATHFINDER MISSION TO ANOTHER WORLD
NASA, 26 May 1969
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-69-20544].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-69-20544" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This historic photograph captures the Apollo 10 crew—Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan—emerging from a U.S. Navy recovery helicopter after their successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on May 26, 1969. Wearing post-flight flight suits, the astronauts step onto a red-carpeted stairway, greeted by recovery personnel on USS Princeton.
Apollo 10 was a critical dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing, testing all phases of the lunar mission except for the actual touchdown. Having flown within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the Moon's surface, the crew returned triumphantly, paving the way for Apollo 11's historic landing two months later.
This image reflects relief, accomplishment, and anticipation—as the Apollo program stood on the threshold of fulfilling President Kennedy's vision of landing humans on the Moon before the decade's end.
Printed 1969.
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-69-20544].
With "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-69-20544" in red in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
This historic photograph captures the Apollo 10 crew—Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan—emerging from a U.S. Navy recovery helicopter after their successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on May 26, 1969. Wearing post-flight flight suits, the astronauts step onto a red-carpeted stairway, greeted by recovery personnel on USS Princeton.
Apollo 10 was a critical dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing, testing all phases of the lunar mission except for the actual touchdown. Having flown within 8.4 nautical miles (15.6 km) of the Moon's surface, the crew returned triumphantly, paving the way for Apollo 11's historic landing two months later.
This image reflects relief, accomplishment, and anticipation—as the Apollo program stood on the threshold of fulfilling President Kennedy's vision of landing humans on the Moon before the decade's end.
Footnotes
Watch more
CLICK HERE: Apollo 10 - To Sort Out The Unknowns (1969)