File:Apollo9_Prime_Crew.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Apollo 9
Sign in to saveAlso known as Apollo IX
third crewed flight of the United States Apollo program
Key facts
- Mission type
- Crewed Earth orbital, CSM/LM flight ( D )
- Operator
- NASA
- Cospar id
- CSM: 1969-018A LM ascent stage: 1969-018C LM descent stage: 1969-018D
- Satcat number span no
- CSM: 3769 LM: 3771
- Mission duration
- 10 days, 1 hour, 54 seconds
- Spacecraft
- Apollo CSM -104 Apollo LM -3
- Manufacturer
- CSM: North American Rockwell LM: Grumman
- Launch mass
- 95,231 lb (43,196 kg)
- Landing mass
- 11,094 lb (5,032 kg)
- Members
- James A. McDivitt David R. Scott Russell L. Schweickart
- Callsign
- CSM: Gumdrop LM: Spider
- Eva duration
- 1 hour, 17 seconds
- Launch date
- March 3, 1969, 16:00:00 ( 1969-03-03UTC16Z ) UTC
- Rocket
- Saturn V SA-504
- Launch site
- Kennedy , LC-39A
- Recovered by
- USS Guadalcanal
- Decay date
- October 23, 1981 (LM ascent stage)
- Landing date
- March 13, 1969, 17:00:54 ( 1969-03-13UTC17:00:55Z ) UTC
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Official name
- Apollo 9
- Duration
- 867654
- Mass
- 43196
- Orbital period
- 91.55
- Image
- Gumdrop Meets Spider - GPN-2000-001100.jpg
Show 9 more facts
- UTC date of spacecraft landing
- 1969-03-13
- orbits completed
- 151
- Commons gallery
- Apollo 9
- Commons category
- Apollo 9
- UTC date of spacecraft launch
- 1969-03-03
- periapsis
- 204
- apoapsis
- 497
- orbital inclination
- 33.8
- call sign
- Spider
via Wikidata · CC0
~38 min read
Article
Apollo 9 (March 3–13, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program, which successfully tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon. The three-man crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart. Flown in low Earth orbit, it was the second crewed Apollo mission that the United States launched via a Saturn V rocket, and was the first flight of the full Apollo spacecraft: the command and service module (CSM) with the Lunar Module (LM).
The mission was flown to qualify the LM for lunar orbit operations in preparation for the first Moon landing by demonstrating its descent and ascent propulsion systems, showing that its crew could fly it independently, then rendezvous and dock with the CSM again, as would be required for the first crewed lunar landing. Other objectives of the flight included firing the LM descent engine to propel the spacecraft stack as a backup mode (as was required on the Apollo 13 mission), and use of the portable life support system backpack outside the LM cabin.