270 a
John Young

Ascent stage of the LM Snoopy returning from the Moon

Apollo 10, May 18-26, 1969, orbit 16

Two vintage chromogenic prints, each 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), the first on fiber-based GAF paper with NASA MSFC credit numbered “AS10-34-5106”, the second on fiber-based Kodak paper with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso (NASA / North American Rockwell) [NASA AS10-34-5107] with a small scratch / crease at the right bottom

270 b
John Young

The ascent stage of the LM Snoopy over the Moon

Apollo 10, May 18-26, 1969, orbit 16

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso (NASA / North American Rockwell) [NASA AS10-34-5110]
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

270 b
Copenhagen, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, The Moon: From Inner Worlds to Outer Space, September 2018-January 2019 and February-May 2019; exhibition catalogue, p. 98, no. 215, illustrated.

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Lot Essay

270 a
“Stafford and Cernan flew Snoopy to within 9 miles of the Moon’s surface testing systems and procedures before they jettisoned the LM’s descent stage. Snoopy’s descent radar performed superbly; but there was a moment of terror later, when Snoopy jettisoned its descent stage to simulate a lunar liftoff. A switch was in the wrong position, and suddenly Snoopy began gyrating violently until Stafford wrestled it back under control” (Mason, p. 162).

Cernan and Stafford could then fire the ascent engine to bring them back into a higher orbit where they could rejoin Charlie Brown piloted by Young.

The photographs were taken with the 80mm lens from the CM Charlie Brown over the southwestern wall of the 313-km Crater Mendeleev (first photograph) and an unnamed area near the 64-km Crater Gregory (second photograph) on the lunar farside. The red/blue diagonal line is the Command Module’s window.

270 b
The photograph was taken with the 80mm lens from the window of the orbiting Command Module Charlie Brown over the 64-km farside Crater Gregory (visible in the right background) and its surrounding area. Latitude / Longitude: 1.2° N / 128.5° E.

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.