Apollo 9
| Mission Insignia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission Name: | Apollo 9 |
| Call Sign: | Command module: Gumdrop Lunar module: Spider |
| Number of Crew: | 3 |
| Launch: | March 3, 1969 16:00:00 UTC Kennedy Space Center LC 39A |
| EVA Length: | 1 h 8 min 1 s |
| Landing: | March 13, 1969 17:00:54 UTC 23ð 15' N - 67ð 56' W
|
| Duration: | 241 h 00 min 54 s |
| Number of Orbits: | 152 |
| Mass: | CSM 26,801 kg; LM 14,575 kg |
| Crew Picture | |
 Apollo 9 crew portrait (L-R: McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart) | |
| Apollo 9 Crew | |
Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program. Ten-day earth-orbital mission launched March 3, 1969. Second manned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle. First manned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM).
| Table of contents |
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2 Mission Parameters 3 Mission Highlights 4 External link |
Crew members tested the LM and practiced separation and docking maneuvers in earth orbit. The LM ascent stage orbit decayed on 23 October 1981, the LM descent stage (1969-018D) orbit decayed 22 March 1969. The splashdown point was 23 deg 15 min N, 67 deg 56 min W, 180 miles east of Bahamas and within sight of the recovery ship USS Guadalcanal.
Crew
Mission Parameters
See also
Mission Highlights
Apollo 9 was the first space test of the third critical piece of Apollo hardware-the lunar module. For ten days, the astronauts put all three Apollo vehicles through their paces in Earth orbit, undocking and then redocking the lunar lander with the command module, just as they would in lunar orbit. For this and all subsequent Apollo flights, the crews were allowed to name their own spacecraft. The gangly lunar module was "Spider," the command module "Gumdrop." Schweickart and Scott performed a space walk, and Schweickart checked out the new Apollo spacesuit, the first to have its own life support system rather than being dependent on an umbilical connection to the spacecraft. Apollo 9 gave proof that the Apollo machines were up to the task of orbital rendezvous and docking.
The command module was displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan until April 2004 when the center closed. In May, 2004, the command module Gumdrop was moved to San Diego Aerospace Museum in southern California. The LM descent stage's orbit decayed 22 March, 1969 and it impacted Earth. The LM ascent stage orbit decayed and impacted Earth on 23 October, 1981.
The S-IVB stage J-2 engine was restarted after Lunar Module extraction and propelled the stage into solar orbit by burning to depletion.
 Dave Scott spacewalk. (NASA) |  Apollo 9 LM "Spider". (NASA) |  LM "Spider" over ocean. (NASA) |
| Preceded by : Apollo 8 |
Apollo program | Followed by : Apollo 10 |