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Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module
Apollo Command/Service Module

The Command/Service Module was a spacecraft built for NASA by North American Aviation. It was one of the two spacecraft that were utilized for the Apollo program, along with the Apollo Lunar Module, to land astronauts on the Moon....
(CSM) along with the Lunar Module
Apollo Lunar Module

The Apollo Lunar Module was the Lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the United States Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back....
 (LM) . Its three-person crew of Mission Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot Dave Scott
David Scott

David Randolph Scott , a former NASA astronaut, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. As commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth human lunar landing, he was List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon and the first person to Lunar rover....
, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart
Rusty Schweickart

Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart is an American astronaut. Schweickart was born in Neptune, New Jersey, New Jersey. He earned an B.S. and an M.S....
 tested several aspects critical to landing on the moon including the LM engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems, and docking maneuvers. The mission was the second manned launch of a Saturn V
Saturn V

The Saturn V was a multistage rocket liquid-fuel expendable launch system rocket used by NASA's Apollo program and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973....
 rocket
Rocket

A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust by the Reaction of the rocket to the ejection of fast moving fluid exhaust from a rocket engine....
, and was the third manned mission of the Apollo Program.

After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew spent ten days in low Earth orbit.






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Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module
Apollo Command/Service Module

The Command/Service Module was a spacecraft built for NASA by North American Aviation. It was one of the two spacecraft that were utilized for the Apollo program, along with the Apollo Lunar Module, to land astronauts on the Moon....
(CSM) along with the Lunar Module
Apollo Lunar Module

The Apollo Lunar Module was the Lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the United States Apollo program by Grumman to achieve the transit from cislunar orbit to the surface and back....
 (LM) . Its three-person crew of Mission Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot Dave Scott
David Scott

David Randolph Scott , a former NASA astronaut, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. As commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth human lunar landing, he was List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon and the first person to Lunar rover....
, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart
Rusty Schweickart

Russell Louis "Rusty" Schweickart is an American astronaut. Schweickart was born in Neptune, New Jersey, New Jersey. He earned an B.S. and an M.S....
 tested several aspects critical to landing on the moon including the LM engines, backpack life support systems, navigation systems, and docking maneuvers. The mission was the second manned launch of a Saturn V
Saturn V

The Saturn V was a multistage rocket liquid-fuel expendable launch system rocket used by NASA's Apollo program and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973....
 rocket
Rocket

A rocket or rocket vehicle is a missile, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust by the Reaction of the rocket to the ejection of fast moving fluid exhaust from a rocket engine....
, and was the third manned mission of the Apollo Program.

After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew spent ten days in low Earth orbit. They performed the first manned flight of a LM, the first docking and extraction of a LM, a two man spacewalk, and the first docking of two manned spacecraft. The mission proved the LM worthy of manned spaceflight. Further tests on the Apollo 10
Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program. The mission included the second crew to orbit the Moon and an all-up test of the Apollo Lunar Module in lunar orbit....
 mission would prepare the LM for its ultimate goal, landing on the Moon.

Crew

Number in parentheses indicates number of spaceflights by each individual prior to and including this mission.
  • James A. McDivitt
    James McDivitt

    James Alton McDivitt is a former NASA astronaut....
     (2) - Commander
  • David R. Scott
    David Scott

    David Randolph Scott , a former NASA astronaut, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. As commander of the Apollo 15 mission, the fourth human lunar landing, he was List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon and the first person to Lunar rover....
     (2) - Command Module Pilot
  • Russell L. Schweickart (1) - Lunar Module Pilot


As with Apollo 8
Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the first manned space voyage to achieve a velocity sufficient to allow escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first manned voyage to return to planet Earth from another celestial body....
 before it, the crew of Apollo 9 consisted of two Gemini
Project Gemini

Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It operated between Projects Project Mercury and Project Apollo, with 10 manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....
 veterans and one rookie.

Backup crew

  • Charles Conrad, Jr
    Pete Conrad

    Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. , was an United States astronaut and the List of Apollo astronauts. He also described himself as the first man to dance on the Moon....
     - Commander
  • Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
    Richard F. Gordon, Jr.

    Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., Captain , United States Navy, Ret. is a retired NASA astronaut. He is one of only List_of_Apollo_astronauts#People_who_flew_around_the_Moon_without_landing....
     - Command Module Pilot
  • Alan L. Bean
    Alan Bean

    Alan LaVern Bean is a former NASA astronaut and became List of people who have walked on the Moon#People who have walked on the Moon at the age of thirty-seven years in November 1969....
     - Lunar Module Pilot


Originally Clifton Williams
Clifton Williams

This article is about the American astronaut. For the composer, see Clifton Williams .Clifton Curtis 'C.C.' Williams was a NASA astronaut and United States Marine Corps Major who was killed after a mechanical failure caused the flight controls in a T-38 Talon he was piloting to stop responding....
 was the lunar module pilot for the backup crew. He died on October 5, 1967, in a T-38
T-38 Talon

The Northrop T-38 Talon is an United States supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first, and most produced supersonic trainer. It remains in service as of 2008 in air forces throughout the world including the United States Air Force , which remains its largest user....
 crash. His spot was given to Alan Bean. Later, when the backup crew flew Apollo 12
Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was the sixth manned mission in the Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon....
, a fourth star was added to their mission patch in remembrance of him.

Support crew

  • Fred W. Haise, Jr
    Fred Haise

    Fred Wallace Haise, Jr. is a former NASA astronaut. He is one of only List_of_Apollo_astronauts#People_who_flew_around_the_Moon_without_landing....
  • Jack R. Lousma
    Jack R. Lousma

    Jack Robert Lousma is a former NASA astronaut....
  • Edgar D. Mitchell
  • Alfred M. Worden


Flight directors

  • Gene Kranz
    Gene Kranz

    Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz is a retired NASA Flight Director and manager. Kranz served as a Flight Director, the successor to NASA founding Flight Director Chris Kraft, during the Project Gemini and Project Apollo programs, and is best known for his role in directing the successful Mission Control team efforts to save the crew of Apollo 13...
    , White team
  • Gerry Griffin, Gold team
  • Pete Frank, Orange team


Mission parameters

  • Mass
    Mass

    In physical science, mass refers to the degree of acceleration a body acquires when subject to a force: bodies with greater mass are accelerated less by the same force....
    :     CSM 26,801 kg; LM 14,575 kg
  • Perigee: 189.5 km
  • Apogee: 192.4 km
  • Inclination
    Inclination

    Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or Axis_of_rotation of direction. The axial tilt is expressed as the angle made by the planet's axis and a line drawn through the planet's center perpendicular to the orbital plane....
    :     32.57°
  • Period
    Orbital period

    The orbital Periodicity is the time taken for a given object to make one complete orbit about another object.When mentioned without further qualification in astronomy this refers to the sidereal period of an astronomical object, which is calculated with respect to the stars....
    :     88.64 min


LM - CSM docking

  • Undocked: March 7, 1969 - 12:39:36 UTC
  • Re-docked:March 7, 1969 - 19:02:26 UTC


EVA

  • Schweickart - EVA - LM forward hatch
    • Start: March 6, 1969, 16:45:00 UTC
    • End: March 6, 1969, 17:52:00 UTC
    • Duration: 1 hour, 07 minutes


  • Scott - Standup EVA - CM side hatch
    • Start: March 6, 1969, 17:01:00 UTC
    • End: March 6, 1969, 18:02:00 UTC
    • Duration: 1 hour, 01 minute


Original mission profile

In October 1967, it was planned that following the first manned orbital flight of the Command/Service Module
Apollo Command/Service Module

The Command/Service Module was a spacecraft built for NASA by North American Aviation. It was one of the two spacecraft that were utilized for the Apollo program, along with the Apollo Lunar Module, to land astronauts on the Moon....
 (CSM) (Apollo 7
Apollo 7

Apollo 7 was the first manned mission in the Apollo program to be launched. It was an eleven-day Earth-orbital mission, the first manned launch of the Saturn IB launch vehicle, and the first three-man American space mission....
, also known as the C Mission), the second manned Apollo mission (D Mission) would have a manned CSM launched on a Saturn 1B, and a day later the Lunar Module launched on a second Saturn IB to practice the first orbit rendezvous. McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart were given this mission, with Frank Borman
Frank Borman

Frank Frederick Borman, II is a retired NASA astronaut, best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon, making him, along with fellow crew mates Jim Lovell and William Anders, the List of Apollo astronauts#People who flew around the Moon without landing....
, Jim Lovell
Jim Lovell

James "Jim" Arthur Lovell, Jr., is a former NASA astronaut and a former Captain in the United States Navy, most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered an explosion en route to the Moon but was brought back safely to Earth by the efforts of the crew and mission control....
 and William Anders
William Anders

William Alison Anders is a former United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. He is, along with Apollo 8 crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon ....
 being assigned to a later, similar Earth-orbit test (E Mission), this time using the Saturn V
Saturn V

The Saturn V was a multistage rocket liquid-fuel expendable launch system rocket used by NASA's Apollo program and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973....
 to carry both the CSM and LM.

However, production problems with the LM meant that the D Mission would not be able to fly until the spring of 1969, so NASA officials created another "C-Prime" mission to go in between the C and D missions, involving the CSM (with no LM) making the first manned flight to the Moon. This flight became Apollo 8
Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was the first manned space voyage to achieve a velocity sufficient to allow escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first manned voyage to return to planet Earth from another celestial body....
, and was given to Borman, Lovell and Anders. Although he was in the rotation for it, McDivitt claims he was never offered the "C-Prime" mission as he was already experienced with the LM - but if he had been offered it, he probably would have declined, as he wanted to fly the LM. The original E Mission was subsequently scrubbed - Apollo 9 was the only Earth-orbit test of the full Apollo spacecraft, and was launched on a Saturn V instead of two Saturn 1Bs. This had long lasting consequence - when the crew rotation for Apollos 8 and 9 were swapped, their backup crews were also swapped, putting Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong is a former American astronaut, test pilot, university professor, and United States Naval Aviator. He is List of Apollo astronauts#People who have walked on the Moon Moon....
 and his crew (who were Borman, Lovell and Anders' backups) in line for the first manned landing mission instead of Pete Conrad
Pete Conrad

Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. , was an United States astronaut and the List of Apollo astronauts. He also described himself as the first man to dance on the Moon....
 and his crew.

Mission highlights

Apollo 9 was the first space test of the complete Apollo spacecraft, including the third critical piece of Apollo hardware - the lunar module. It was also the first space docking with an internal crew transfer. 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. Apollo 9 gave proof that the Apollo machines were up to the task of orbital rendezvous and docking.

For this and all subsequent Apollo flights, the crews were allowed to name their own spacecraft (the last spacecraft to have been named was Gemini 3
Gemini 3

Gemini 3 was a 1965 manned space flight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the first manned Project Gemini flight, the seventh manned American flight and the 17th manned spaceflight from Earth of all time ....
). The gangly lunar module was named Spider, and the command module was labelled Gumdrop on account of the blue wrapping in which the craft arrived at KSC.

Schweickart and Scott performed a spacewalk (EVA)— 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, while Scott filmed him from the command module hatch. Schweickart was due to carry out a more extensive set of activities to test the suit, and demonstrate that it was possible for astronauts to perform an EVA from the lunar module to the command module in an emergency, but as he had been suffering from space sickness the extra tests were scratched.

McDivitt and Schweickart later testflew the LM, and practiced separation and docking maneuvers in earth orbit. They flew the LM up to from Gumdrop, using the engine on the descent stage to propel them originally, before jettisoning it and using the ascent stage to return. This test flight represented the first flight of a manned spacecraft that was not equipped to reenter the Earth's atmosphere.

The splashdown point was 23 deg 15 min N, 67 deg 56 min W, 180 miles (290 km) east of Bahamas and within sight of the recovery ship USS Guadalcanal
USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)

The second USS Guadalcanal , an Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ship amphibious assault ship, was launched by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 16 March 1963, sponsored by Mrs....
.

The command module was displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan

Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor. It is the county seat of Jackson County, Michigan....
 until April 2004 when the center closed. In May 2004, it was moved to the San Diego Aerospace Museum
San Diego Aerospace Museum

San Diego Air & Space Museum is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, USA. It is located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, frequently referred to as the "Smithsonian of the West" for its high concentration of museums....
. The LM ascent stage orbit decayed on October 23, 1981, the LM descent stage (1969-018D) orbit decayed March 22, 1969. The S-IVB stage J-2 engine was restarted after Lunar Module extraction and propelled the stage into solar orbit by burning to depletion.

The crew sang the song "Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You

"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a traditional song that is sung to celebrate the birthday. According to the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday to You" is the most well recognized song in the English language, followed by "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne"....
" on March 8, 1969.

Mission insignia and spacecraft names

The circular patch shows drawings of a Saturn V rocket with the letters USA on it. To its right, an Apollo CSM is shown next to an LM, with the CSM's nose pointed at the "front door" of the LM rather than at its top docking port. The CSM is trailing rocket fire in a circle. The crew's names are along the top edge of the circle, with APOLLO IX
Roman numerals

Roman numerals are a numeral system of ancient Rome based on letters of the alphabet, which are combined to signify the sum of their values. The system is decimal but not directly Positional notation and does not include a zero....
 at the bottom. The "D" in McDivitt's name is filled with red to mark that this was the "D mission" in the alphabetic sequence of pre-lunar landing missions. The patch was designed by Allen Stevens of Rockwell International.

For the first time since the first manned Gemini mission, the astronauts were allowed to name their spacecraft. This came about to avoid confusion when dealing with two separate craft flying at the same time. The crew dubbed the lunar module Spider for its buglike appearance, and the command module Gumdrop because of its shape.

Summary of maneuvers

T + Time Event Burn Time Delta-Velocity Orbit
T + 00:00:00 Lift-off  
T + 00:02:14.34 S-IC center engine cut-off 141 s  
T + 00:02:42.76 S-IC engine cut-off 169 s  
T + 00:02:45.16 S-II ignition  
T + 00:03:13.5 S-II skirt separation  
T + 00:03:18.3 LES jettison  
T + 00:08:56.22 S-II cut-off  
T + 00:08:57 S-II cutoff + separation, S-IVB ignition  
T + 00:11:04.66 S-IVB cutoff + orbital insertion 127.4 s 191.3 × 189.5 km
T + 02:41:16 CSM/S-IVB separation  
T + 03:01:59.3 CSM/LM docking  
T + 04:08:09 Spacecraft/S-IVB separation  
T + 05:59:01.07 First SPS test 5.1 s +10.4 m/s 234.1 × 200.7 km
T + 22:13:04.07 Second SPS test 110 s +259.2 m/s 351.5 × 199.5 km
T + 25:17:39.27 Third SPS test 281.6 s +782.6 m/s 503.4 × 202.6 km
T + 28:24:41.37 Fourth SPS test 28.2 s -914.5 m/s 502.8 × 202.4 km
T + 49:41:34.46 First DPS test 369.7 s -530.1 m/s 499.3 × 202.2 km
T + 54:26:12.27 Fifth SPS test 43.3 s -175.6 m/s 239.3 × 229.3 km
T + 92:39:36 CSM/LM undocking  
T + 93:02:54 CSM separation maneuver 10.9 s -1.5 m/s  
T + 93:47:35.4 LM DPS phasing maneuver 18.6 s +27.6 m/s 253.5 × 207 km
T + 95:39:08.6 LM DPS insertion maneuver 22.2 s +13.1 m/s 257.2 × 248.2 km
T + 96:16:06.54 LM concentric sequence initiation maneuver/Descent stage jettison 30.3 s -12.2 m/s 255.2 × 208.9 km
T + 96:58:15 LM APS constant delta height maneuver 2.9 s -12.6 m/s 215.6 × 207.2 km
T + 97:57:59 LM terminal phase finalization maneuver 34.7 s +6.8 m/s 232.8 × 208.5 km
T + 99:02:26 CSM/LM docking  
T + 101:22:45 LM ascent stage jettison  
T + 101:32:44 Post-jettison CSM separation maneuver 7.2 s +0.9 m/s 235.7 × 224.6 km
T + 101:53:15.4 LM APS burn to depletion 350 s +1,643.2 m/s 6,934.4 × 230.6 km
T + 123:25:06.97 Sixth SPS test 1.29 s -11.5 m/s 222.6 × 195.2 km
T + 169:39:00.36 Seventh SPS test 25 s +199.6 m/s 463.4 × 181.1 km
T + 240:31:14.84 Deorbit burn (SPS) 11.6 s -99.1 m/s 442.2 × -7.8 km
T + 240:36:03.8 SM jettison  
T + 241:00:54 Splashdown  





Pictures



Spacecraft location

The Apollo 9 Command Module Gumdrop is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego, California
San Diego, California

San Diego is the second largest city in California and the List of United States cities by population, located along the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast of the United States of the Western United States....
.

See also

  • Extra-vehicular activity
    Extra-vehicular activity

    Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon ....
  • List of spacewalks
  • Splashdown
    Splashdown (spacecraft landing)

    Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by American manned spacecraft prior to the Space Shuttle program....


External links

  • ApolloTV.net Video