Apollo 9

Apollo 9
Mission insignia
Missing image
Apollo-9-patch.jpg
Apollo 9 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
Splashdown:March 13, 1969
17:00:54 UTC
23° 15' N - 67° 56' W
Duration:10 d 1 h 0 min 54 s
Number of
orbits:
152
Mass:CSM 26,801 kg;
LM 14,575 kg
Crew picture
Missing image
GPN-2000-001162.jpg
Apollo 9 crew portrait (L-R: McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart)


Apollo 9 crew portrait
(L-R: McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart)
Apollo 9 Crew

Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program, a ten day earth-orbital mission launched 3 March 1969. It was the second manned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle and the first manned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM).

Contents

Crew

Backup crew

Support crew

Mission parameters

LM - CSM docking

EVA

  • Schweickart - EVA - LM forward hatch
  • Scott - EVA - CM side hatch

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" on account of the blue cellophane wrapping in which the craft arrived at KSC. 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.

Crew members tested the LM and practiced separation and docking maneuvers in earth orbit. 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, the command module Gumdrop was moved to San Diego Aerospace Museum in southern California. The LM ascent stage orbit decayed on 23 October 1981, the LM descent stage (1969-018D) orbit decayed 22 March 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.

Launched: March 3, 1969 from Pad 39A
Returned: March 13, 1969
Crew members: James McDivitt, commander; David Scott, command module pilot; Rusty Schweickart, lunar module pilot.
Command module: Gumdrop
Lunar module: Spider

Original mission profile

In October 1967 it was planned that following the first manned orbital flight of the CSM (Apollo 7) the second manned Apollo mission would have a manned CSM launched on a Saturn 1B and a few days later the Lunar Module Launched on a second Saturn 1B to practise first orbit rendevous. When the mission was delayed due to production problems with the LM McDivitt was offered the chance to fly the first manned Saturn V as Commander of Apollo 8 but declined. This had long lasting consequence as the crew rotation for Apollos 8 and 9 were swapped putting Neil Armstrong in line for the first manned landing mission.

Schweickart was due to carry out a more extensive set of space walk activity to test the Apollo suit but as he was suffering from space sickness this was restricted to the stand up test in the Lunar Module hatch.

Apollo 9 maneuver summary

T + Time Event Burn Time Delta-Velocity Orbit
T + 00:00:00 Lift-off . . .
T + 00:02:14 S-IC center engine cut-off 141 s . .
T + 00:02:43 S-IC engine cut-off 169 s . .
T + 00:02:44 S-II ignition . . .
T + 00:03:14 S-II skirt separation . . .
T + 00:03:19 LES jettison . . .
T + 00:08:56 S-II cut-off . . .
T + 00:08:57 S-II cutoff + separation, S-IVB ignition . . .
T + 00:11:05 S-IVB cutoff + orbital insertion 127.4 s . 191.3 x 189.5 km
T + 02:45:00 CSM/S-IVB separation . . .
T + 03:02:08 CSM/LM docking . . .
T + 04:18:00 Spacecraft/S-IVB separation . . .
T + 05:59:00 First SPS test 5.1 s +10.4 m/s 234.1 x 200.7 km
T + 22:12:03 Second SPS test 110 s +259.2 m/s 351.5 x 199.5 km
T + 25:17:38 Third SPS test 281.6 s +782.6 m/s 503.4 x 202.6 km
T + 28:24:40 Fourth SPS test 28.2 s -914.5 m/s 502.8 x 202.4 km
T + 49:41:33 First DPS test 369.7 s -530.1 m/s 499.3 x 202.2 km
T + 54:26:11 Fifth SPS test 43.3 s -175.6 m/s 239.3 x 229.3 km
T + 92:39:30 CSM/LM undocking . . .
T + 93:02:53 CSM separation maneuver 10.9 s -1.5 m/s .
T + 93:47:34 LM DPS phasing maneuver 18.6 s +27.6 m/s 253.5 x 207 km
T + 95:39:07 LM DPS insertion maneuver 22.2 s +13.1 m/s 257.2 x 248.2 km
T + 96:16:04 LM concentric sequence initiation maneuver 30.3 s -12.2 m/s 255.2 x 208.9 km
T + 96:58:14 LM APS constant delta height maneuver 2.9 s -12.6 m/s 215.6 x 207.2 km
T + 97:57:59 LM terminal phase finalization maneuver 34.7 s +6.8 m/s 232.8 x 208.5 km
T + 98:59:00 CSM/LM docking . . .
T + 101:32:44 Post-jettison CSM separation maneuver 7.2 s +0.9 m/s 235.7 x 224.6 km
T + 101:53:20 LM APS burn to depletion 350 s +1,643.2 m/s 6,934.4 x 230.6 km
T + 123:25:06 Sixth SPS test 1.29 s -11.5 m/s 222.6 x 195.2 km
T + 169:38:59 Seventh SPS test 25 s +199.6 m/s 463.4 x 181.1 km
T + 240:31:14 Eighth SPS test 11.6 s -99.1 m/s 442.2 x -7.8 km
T + 241:00:54 Splashdown . . .


Missing image
GPN-2000-001100.jpg
Dave Scott spacewalk. (NASA)
Apollo 9 LM "Spider". (NASA)
Enlarge
Apollo 9 LM "Spider". (NASA)
Missing image
GPN-2000-001109.jpg
LM "Spider" over ocean. (NASA)


Reference

Template:Project Apollo

External link

it:Apollo 9 nl:Apollo 9 pt:Apollo 9 fi:Apollo 9

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