Sunday, May 18, 1969

Apollo 10 on the launch pad. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Apollo 10 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on a final dry run of NASA’s lunar landing. Commander Thomas Stafford was accompanied by John Young and Eugene Cernan.

The lunar module, containing Stafford and Cernan, orbited the Moon but did not land.

For this mission, the lunar module was known by the callsign Snoopy while the command module went by Charlie Brown.

Apollo 10 command module ("Charlie Brown") in lunar orbit. Image courtesy of NASA.

The crew returned to Earth on May 26.

Monday, March 3, 1969

Apollo 9 heading to the launch pad. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Apollo 9, the first manned flight of the command/service module along with the lunar module was launched, spending ten days in orbit around the Earth. It was sent to test several tactics of landing on the moon. There were three astronauts in the crew: Russell Schweickart, James McDivitt, and Dave Scott.

The lunar module from Apollo 9 in Earth orbit. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Fred Zito was not at Dowling in the late sixties although he did earn his Ed.D. at Dowling in 2002. No, during the sixties Fred was working for NASA as an aerospace engineer. Stationed at Grumman on Long Island, Fred was working on the navigation and guidance systems for the lunar landing module.

In this 30-minute interview, Fred draws from his front row seat of the space race to recount just how daunting and complex a task NASA and its partners faced. Our additional audio of  the Apollo 11 take off and lunar landing is courtesy of NASA.

This interview is cross posted with our regular Omnibus podcast series and you can find more information and lnks to related resources in our shownotes.

Tuesday, December 24, 1968

Earthrise as seen from Apollo 8. Photo courtesy of NASA.

The crew of Apollo 8 conducted a live televison broadcast from their spacecraft as it orbited the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders provided pictures of Earth from space as well as Christmas greetings to the planet.

Saturday, December 21, 1968

Apollo 8 on the launch pad. Image courtesy of NASA.

Apollo 8 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders on board. This was the first flight using the Saturn V rocket and more importantly, the first manned flight to reach and orbit the Moon.

Friday, October 11, 1968

Apollo 7 lifting off. Image courtesy of NASA.

The first manned Apollo mission blasted off with three astronauts aboard the command module for an 11-day stay in Earth orbit.