Today NASA celebrates the Apollo program on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 10, the fourth manned mission of the program. An interactive feature on NASA’s web site includes photos, video, and even animated comics from the manned lunar missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
On May 18, 1969, Gene Cernan, John Young, and Thomas Stafford (left to right in picture) launched from Earth to become the second crew to orbit the Moon. While Young stayed in the command module, Stafford and Cernan took the lunar module within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the lunar surface during a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing. Cernan would later become the last person to set foot on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission.
So far, NASA has unveiled interactive media for Apollo 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Each time a historic mission reaches its 40th anniversary, NASA unlocks new content for that mission. This will occur through December 7, 2012, the 40th anniversary of the eleventh and final manned Apollo mission, Apollo 17.
Photo courtesy NASA