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Apollo 10 Complete LM Flown Rendezvous Checklist

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:13,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Apollo 10 Complete LM Flown Rendezvous Checklist
<B>Apollo 10 Complete Lunar Module Flown Rendezvous Checklist with Original Signed Snoopy Sketch by Charles Schulz.</B></I> An amazing item consisting of twenty-nine numbered card stock pages of 8.25" x 10.5", three-hole punched, and bound with rings inside heavier boards. The front cover has the printed title "APOLLO 10/ LM RENDEZVOUS" along with the Part No. of "SKB32100079-390" and "S/N 1001". Laid down to it is an original Beta cloth Apollo 10 crew patch. The checklist itself contains literally hundreds of original handwritten notes and calculations made by Cernan and the crew during the mission and rendezvous maneuvers. Just inside is an additional card stock leaf containing a full-page black felt-tip drawing of likely the best-known and most-loved comic strip character in the world- Snoopy himself. Drawn and signed by Schulz, Snoopy is shown in his "flying ace" goggles and scarf (along with a space helmet); sitting atop his "Sopwith Camel" (doghouse), he appears poised to either shoot down the Red Baron or to fly to the moon with the Apollo crew. <I>Snoopy</B></I> was the semi-official nickname given to the lunar module (the command module was called <I>Charlie Brown</B></I>). Cernan has signed and verified its flight history on an inside page of the checklist.<BR><BR>Apollo 10 was a "dress rehearsal" for the soon-to come Apollo 11 moon landing. One of the most critical of the mission's objectives was to master the rendezvous and docking of the command and lunar modules in lunar orbit. This very checklist was used by Cernan and Stafford to successfully accomplish that important procedure for the first time. <I>Snoopy</B></I> flew to within 8.4 nautical miles of the lunar surface and scouted the landing site to be used by Apollo 11 in the Sea of Tranquility.<BR><BR>Interestingly, <I>Snoopy</B></I> is the only flown lunar module still in existence and is still orbiting the moon. The others were either burned up during re-entry to earth or crashed onto the moon's surface. There was a <I>Peanuts</B></I> comic strip that was published during the period of this Apollo 10 flight showing Charlie Brown comforting Snoopy about the spacecraft named after him being left in orbit. <I>From the personal collection of Captain Gene Cernan accompanied by written authentication by Cernan.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)