THIS DAY IN SPACE

Apollo 10 Enters Lunar Orbit
On May 22, 1969, NASA’s Apollo 10 mission successfully entered lunar orbit, completing a critical dress rehearsal for the upcoming Moon landing by Apollo 11. Commanded by Thomas Stafford, with John Young and Eugene Cernan aboard, the mission brought the Lunar Module (nicknamed 'Snoopy') within 15.6 kilometers (about 8.4 nautical miles) of the Moon’s surface. This close approach tested the systems, trajectory, and coordination required for an actual landing, without touching down. The mission also rehearsed procedures like undocking and redocking, giving NASA confidence in the spacecraft's design and the astronauts’ preparedness. Apollo 10 was essential in revealing issues such as lunar gravity anomalies and communication blackouts, which were then corrected for the success of Apollo 11. This mission is often considered one of the most daring due to the tight margins and high-speed lunar maneuvers conducted. May 22, 1969, marked the closest humans had ever come to walking on the Moon—until that fateful day two months later.

SpaceX’s Dragon Launched to ISS
On May 22, 2012, SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket, marking the first time a commercial company had ever sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). This historic launch from Cape Canaveral was part of NASA's COTS program and represented a pivotal step in reducing reliance on government-built spacecraft. The Dragon capsule carried cargo to the ISS and later returned safely to Earth, proving its reusability. This mission demonstrated SpaceX’s growing role in orbital logistics and helped establish the company as a vital partner in future crewed missions. It was the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program that a U.S.-based spacecraft had reached the ISS. The mission’s success was a major leap toward privatized space access and opened the doors for deeper collaboration between NASA and commercial firms. The Dragon capsule would go on to support multiple resupply missions and evolve into the Crew Dragon for human spaceflight.