Tom Stafford’s heavy-duty brass-milled two-cell flashlight carried into lunar orbit during the Apollo 10 mission, measuring 5˝ in length and 1˝ in diameter at the lens, signed and flight-certified on the body in black felt tip, "Flown to Moon, Tom Stafford.” A small piece of white Velcro is attached at the top near the lens, and the faded part numbers to body are indecipherable. In fine condition, with scattered wear, including some verdigris to bottom section.
Accompanied by a photo of Stafford holding the offered penlight and a signed letter of authenticity from Stafford: “This to certify that the accompanying ACR Electronics Company Penlight Part Number ‘ACR FA-5, Serial Number 1032’ was flown into lunar orbit aboard the Apollo 10 Command Module ‘Charlie Brown’…During our mission, we carried small brass flashlights to operate in areas of low illumination in both the Command Module and the Lunar Module. We carried them in a special pocket on the left sleeve of our IVG garments and our spacesuits as we worked in each spacecraft.
This penlight with the number 1032 was confirmed as flown by a review of ASHER lists in both our museum archives and National Archives. The penlight was used on our flight and then later transferred to Command Module B/P1102A for crew egress simulation training on subsequent Apollo and Skylab flights as well as being reconfigured for both the Skylab five-man rescue and ASTP missions before being de-accessed by NASA.
In 2012, Congress allowed Apollo Era astronauts to keep disposable items like this Apollo 10 ACR Penlight from their mission as personal mementos. This penlight has been part of the Apollo 10 collection for 50 years, ever since NASA downgraded it after the return of Apollo 10 from the Moon in 1969. This ACR Penlight is one of the few objects carried to lunar orbit and is also a rare example of an astronaut flight certified object used on orbit around the Moon.”
