Tom Stafford, who had commanded Apollo 10 a year earlier, was in the MOCR listening to this exchange. As soon as it was over he approached Lunney for a private conversation. They were on the wrong track, Stafford said. Maneuvering the docked spacecraft with the LEM’s thrusters to get manual star sightings was going to be next to impossible. It was essential they get an alignment now, from the C.S.M., while it still had power. Stafford’s was the knowledge of a man who had flown the LEM, and Lunney respected it.
