| Apollo 9 | |||||
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Mission insignia |
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| Mission statistics | |||||
| Mission name | Apollo 9 | ||||
| Command Module | CM-104 callsign Gumdrop mass 26,801 kg |
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| Service Module | SM-104 | ||||
| Lunar Module | LM-3 callsign Spider mass 14,575 kg |
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| Crew size | 3 | ||||
| Booster | Saturn V SA-504 | ||||
| Launch pad | LC 39A Kennedy Space Center Florida, USA |
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| Launch date | March 3, 1969 16:00:00 UTC |
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| Landing | March 13, 1969 17:00:54 UTC 23°15′N 67°56′W / 23.25°N 67.933°W |
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| Mission duration | 10 d 01 h 00 m 54 s | ||||
| Crew photo | |||||
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| Left to right: McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart | |||||
| Related missions | |||||
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Apollo 9 was the first manned flight of the Command/Service Module (CSM) along with the Lunar Module (LM). Its three-person crew, consisting of Mission Commander Jim McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart 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 rocket, 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 second docking of two manned spacecraft. The mission proved the LM worthy of manned spaceflight. Further tests on the Apollo 10 mission would prepare the LM for its ultimate goal, landing on the Moon.
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Contents
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Crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | James A. McDivitt Second spaceflight |
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| Command Module Pilot | David R. Scott Second spaceflight |
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| Lunar Module Pilot | Russell L. Schweickart First spaceflight |
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| Like Apollo 8, the crew of Apollo 9 consisted of two Gemini veterans and one rookie. |
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Backup crew
| Position | Astronaut | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander | Charles Conrad, Jr | |
| Command Module Pilot | Richard F. Gordon, Jr. | |
| Lunar Module Pilot | Alan L. Bean | |
| The backup crew became the prime crew on Apollo 12. | ||
Originally Clifton Williams was the lunar module pilot for the backup crew. He died on October 5, 1967, in a T-38 crash. His spot was given to Alan Bean. Later, when the backup crew flew Apollo 12, a fourth star was added to their mission patch in remembrance of him.
Support crew
Flight directors
- Gene Kranz, White team
- Gerry Griffin, Gold team
- Pete Frank, Orange team
Mission parameters
- Mass: CSM 26,801 kg; LM 14,575 kg
- Perigee: 189.5 km
- Apogee: 192.4 km
- Inclination: 32.57°
- Period: 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 (CSM) (Apollo 7, 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, Jim Lovell and William Anders being assigned to a later, similar Earth-orbit test (E Mission), this time using the Saturn V 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, 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 and his crew (who were Borman, Lovell and Anders' backups) in line for the first manned landing mission instead of Pete Conrad 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). The gangly lunar module was named Spider, and the command module was labeled Gumdrop because of the blue wrapping in which the craft arrived at Kennedy Space Center.
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 test-flew the LM, and practiced separation and docking maneuvers in earth orbit. They flew the LM up to 111 miles (179 km) 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.
The command module was displayed at the Michigan Space and Science Center, Jackson, Michigan until April 2004 when the center closed. In May 2004, it was moved to the San Diego Aerospace Museum. 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" 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 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.[1]
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 Service Propulsion System (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 Descent Propulsion System (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 Ascent Propulsion System (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
 David Scott stands in the opened Command Module door. (NASA) |
 Apollo 9 LM Spider. (NASA) |
 LM Spider over ocean. (NASA) |
Spacecraft location
The Apollo 9 Command Module Gumdrop is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, San Diego, California.
See also
Notes
- ^ Hengeveld, Ed (May 20, 2008). "The man behind the Moon mission patches". collectSPACE. http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-052008a.html. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
References
- NASA NSSDC Master Catalog
- APOLLO BY THE NUMBERS: A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff (NASA)
- Apollo 9 Characteristics - SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK
- Baker, David. The History of Manned Space Flight. Crown Publishers, Inc. First Edition. ISBN 0-517-54377-X
- "Appendix 6 - Crews and Support for Manned Apollo Flights". The Apollo Spacecraft - A Chronology. Volume IV. NASA. 1975. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4009/v4app6.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- Apollo 9 is the name of a 1985 single by the UK new wave pop musician, Adam Ant.
External links
- NASA Apollo 9 press kit - Feb 23, 1969
- Apollo 9 flight plan AS-504/CSM-104/LM-3 Final report
- Apollo 9 entry in Encyclopedia Astronautica
- The Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology
- Apollo Program Summary Report
- More Apollo 9 Images
- Apollo/Saturn V Development Apollo 9 Launch ApolloTV.net Video
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