203. [Apollo 10] THE GIANT SATURN V ROCKET LIFTS OFF ON A HISTORIC PATHFINDER MISSION TO THE MOON NASA, 18 May 1969 Printed 1969. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image S-69-34144]. With NASA caption and "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse, numbered "NASA S-69-34144" in red the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.) Historical context This striking image captures Apollo 10's liftoff on May 18, 1969, as five F-1 engines unleash 7.5 million pounds of thrust, propelling the crew toward the Moon. A crucial dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, this mission tested every phase of lunar landing operations—except touchdown—paving the way for humanity's first steps on another world. [NASA caption] The Apollo 10 (Spacecraft 106 Lunar Module 4/Saturn 505) space vehicle is launched from Pad B, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Centre at 12:49 p.m. (EDT), May 18, 1969. Aboard the spacecraft are astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, commander; John W. Young, command module pilot; and Eugene A. Cernan, lunar module pilot. The eight-day, lunar orbit mission will mark the first time the complete Apollo spacecraft has operated around the Moon and the second manned flight for the Lunar Module. Two Apollo 10 astronauts, Stafford and Cernan, are scheduled to descend within eight nautical miles of the Moon's surface in the LM.