APOLLO TEN

APOLLO TEN

ACTUAL SPACE FACT: The modules for NASA's Apollo Ten mission in May 1969, effectively a dress rehearsal for the moon landings two months later, were named after the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy?

But what would have happened if Snoopy had actually touched down on the moon? How different would the space programme's contribution to world culture and history have been?

For one thing, Neil Armstrong's "One small step for [a] man" speech would have been usurped by words spoken by Apollo X commander Thomas Stafford.

For second, grainy footage of Apollo XI's Eagle lander would have been entirely different.

For as Snoopy touched down on the lunar surface, we would have heard an entirely different phrase to echo down the decades:

"The Beagle has landed"

I'll get me spacesuit.