Editing Apollo 10 (section)

===Return to Earth===
[[File:Apollo 10 Helicopter Recovery - GPN-2000-001143.jpg|thumb|[[Helicopter 66]] post-splashdown crew recovery operations in the Pacific Ocean]]
After ejecting the LM ascent stage, the crew slept and performed photography and observation of the lunar surface from orbit. Though the crew located 18 landmarks on the surface and took photographs of various surface features, crew fatigue necessitated the cancellation of two scheduled television broadcasts. Thereafter, the main Service Propulsion System engine of the CSM re-ignited for about 2.5 minutes to set Apollo 10 on a trajectory towards Earth, achieving such a trajectory at 137:39:13.7. As it departed lunar orbit, Apollo 10 had orbited the Moon 31 times over the span of about 61 hours and 37 minutes.{{sfn|Orloff|2004|pp=72–79}}

During their journey back to Earth, the crew performed some observational activities which included star-Earth horizon sightings for navigation. The crew also performed a scheduled test to gauge the reflectivity of the CSM's [[Directional antenna|high-gain antenna]] and broadcast six television transmissions of varying durations to show views inside the spacecraft and of the Earth and Moon from the crew's vantage point.{{sfn|Orloff|2004|pp=72–79}} Cernan reported later that he and his crewmates became the first to "successfully shave in space" during the return trip, using a [[safety razor]] and thick [[Shaving cream|shaving gel]], as such items had been deemed a safety hazard and prohibited on earlier flights.{{sfn|Cernan|p=220}} The crew fired the engine of the CSM for the only mid-course-correction burn required during the return trip at 188:49:58, a few hours before separation of the CM from the SM. The burn lasted about 6.7 seconds.{{sfn|Orloff|2004|pp=72–79}}

As the spacecraft rapidly approached Earth on the final day of the mission, the Apollo 10 crew traveled faster than any humans before or since, relative to Earth: 39,897&nbsp;km/h (11.08&nbsp;km/s or 24,791&nbsp;mph).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wall |first=Mike |date=April 23, 2019 |title=The Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records |url=https://www.space.com/11337-human-spaceflight-records-50th-anniversary.html |access-date=June 26, 2022 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Granath |first=Bob |date=February 24, 2015 |title=Apollo 10 Anniversary Catapults Next Step |url=http://www.nasa.gov/content/apollo-10-was-moon-landing-rehearsal-eft-1-preps-for-trips-beyond |access-date=April 29, 2020 |website=NASA}}</ref> This is because the return trajectory was designed to take only 42 hours rather than the normal 56.{{sfn|Stafford & Cassutt|p=458}} The Apollo 10 crew also traveled farther than any humans before or since from their (Houston) homes: {{convert|408950|nmi|km|abbr=off|disp=out|sp=us}} (408,950&nbsp;nautical&nbsp;miles; {{convert|408950|nmi|mi|abbr=off|disp=out}}) (though the Apollo 13 crew was 200&nbsp;km farther away from Earth as a whole).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holtkamp |first=Gerhard |date=June 6, 2009 |title=Far Away From Home |url=http://www.scilogs.eu/en/blog/spacetimedreamer/2009-06-06/far-away-from-home |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031132720/http://www.scilogs.eu/en/blog/spacetimedreamer/2009-06-06/far-away-from-home |archive-date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=20 September 2011 |website=SpaceTimeDreamer |publisher=SciLogs |type=Blog |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

At 191:33:26, the CM (which contained the crew) separated from the SM in preparation for [[Atmospheric reentry|reentry]], which occurred about 15 minutes later at 191:48:54.5.{{sfn|Orloff|2004|pp=72–79}} [[Splashdown (spacecraft landing)|Splashdown]] of the CM occurred about 15 minutes after reentry in the Pacific Ocean about {{convert|400|nmi|km|abbr=off|disp=out|sp=us}} (400&nbsp;nautical&nbsp;miles; {{convert|400|nmi|mi|abbr=off|disp=out}}) east of [[American Samoa]] on May 26, 1969, at 16:52:23 UTC and mission elapsed time 192:03:23.{{sfn|Orloff|2004|pp=72–79}} The astronauts were recovered by {{USS|Princeton|CV-37|6}}. They spent about four hours aboard, during which they took a congratulatory phone call from President [[Richard Nixon]].<ref name="clear" /> As they had not made contact with the lunar surface, Apollo 10's crew were not required to [[Mobile quarantine facility|quarantine]] like the first landing crews would be.{{sfn|Cernan|p=222}} They were flown to [[Pago Pago International Airport]] in [[Tafuna, American Samoa|Tafuna]] for a greeting reception, before boarding a [[Lockheed C-141 Starlifter|C-141]] cargo plane to [[Ellington Air Force Base]] near [[Houston]].<ref name="clear">{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2019 |title=50 Years Ago: Apollo 10 Clears the Way for the first Moon Landing |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-10-clears-the-way-for-the-first-moon-landing |access-date=June 26, 2022 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref>