Christmas 1968 when man first cut the
silver cord of Earth's gravity to orbit
the moon
Saturn five had provided the power to
take him there the command and service
modules had sustained him but man cannot
begin his mastery of the moon until he
can land on its inhospitable surface and
take off again to do this he needs the
third basic piece of hardware the lunar
module the lunar module is a new concept
designed exclusively for use in the
vacuum of space
a two-man taxi used as a shuttle between
the lunar surface and the orbiting
command module but before men can use
the lunar module as an operational lunar
spacecraft it must be tested in space
first in Earth orbit this was the
primary purpose of apollo 9 the third
manned Apollo mission Jim McDivitt day
is Scott rusty Schweickart three men to
qualify this new machine to make ready
for the moon
this was the
system ever sent into space first the
Saturn five seven and a half million
pounds of thrust from its first stage
alone over three million working parts
then the lunar module well over 1
million parts and the command and
service modules over 2 million parts 35
seconds in March 13 1969 then the
counter for launch of Apollo mine was
underway each bezel checked out before
low computer monitors 20 seconds
guidance released 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 we
have ignition sequence start six five
four three two one zero all engines
running commitment the top we have
liftoff but 11 a.m. Eastern Standard
Time
on angular go all the way everything
looks good we can Apollo nine at five
minutes everybody
after the clam here looking good early
very good
once in orbit the crew turned the
command module around the territory to
the docking with the lunar module which
was still attached to the s4 being the
third stage of the launch vehicle go
Power Man we're about 25 feet now under
30 voice copy
so I'm not understanding heart back till
the next maneuver to activate the
springs which would eject the lunar
module command module configuration from
the s4 b r9 you are go free control
beautiful next the s4 B engine would be
ignited to send it away from Apollo 9
away from possible interference with
their complex mission or ignition on
therefore be drawn away just like a
freight car disappear intended for the
rest of the first and second day is
Apollo 9 would fly in this configuration
for burns of the service propulsion
system would optimize the orbit for the
coming maneuvers these burns could be
roughly correlated to the mid-course
Corrections of a lunar mission then on
the third day the crew cleared the
tunnel connecting the command and lunar
modules of the probe-and-drogue docking
mechanism this would open the tunnel for
the transfer of McDivitt and Schweikert
from the command module to the lunar
module my sisters fear for a Polaris
professor a player follow nine Houston's
refuel and clear
alright read a little piece of info for
you the
right past our night with two spacecraft
now in operation new code names were
introduced the cone-shaped command
module known as gumdrop the insect-like
lunar module called spider throughout
the day McDivitt and Schweikert would
test every system of the lunar module
the major event of the day would be a
burn of the lunar module descent engine
this engine which will eventually be
used for the actual lunar landing would
be under the manual control of
spacecraft commander McDivitt for a
large portion of the burn okay now
McDivitt put on a virtuoso performance
playing the throttle the lunar module
each variation of thrust a note in a
technological symphony final 3 percent
forgotten 10% for rack up to 40% 25%
ok clear out the boy from profile
complete retard cut there the engine so
necessary for the lunar landing had
performed flawlessly another burn of the
service module engine would complete the
day but first McDivitt had a message
okay I gotta get something to identify
basil inside the fruit salad without the
scribe again right
it had been a busy time for the crew of
Apollo nine but it was only the
beginning
the next day McDivitt and Schweikert
returned to the lunar module this time
Schweickart opened the front hatch and
stepped onto the front porch the first
all up test in space of the portable
life support system or PLSS and the suit
to be worn on the moon Weikart was
attached to the lunar module only by a
safety tether with his own life support
and communication systems he was
virtually an independent one-man
spacecraft his callsign as the third
Lincoln Communications Red Rover
alone in the command module hatch opened
Dave Scott also had work to do oh come
on yeah you want to retrieve a sample
now both Scott and Schweikert were
retrieving experimental thermal samples
attached to the exterior of the lunar
and command modules because of
Schweickart upset stomach the previous
day his extra vehicular transfer from
the lunar module to the command module
to be used if the transfer tunnel were
blocked was curtailed but the remaining
evie a which lasted for 37 minutes
demonstrated not only that an extra
vehicular transfer was possible but gave
a good workout to the spacesuit and
life-support system that will later be
worn when exploring the surface of the
nor it had been another long hard day
the first and only Eevee a scheduled for
Apollo until the exploration of the
lunar surface but the next day was the
biggest test of them all with McDivitt
and Schweiker in the lunar module Scott
alone in the command module the two
vehicles
undocked
looking more an abstraction than a
machine
the Lunar Module danced an inverted
pirouette before its lone partner in
space
firing its descent engine the lunar
module would pull away from the command
module to a distance of about a hundred
miles
now with the support of Mission Control
McDivitt and Schweikert would locate
Scott alone in the command module and
perform the critical rendezvous
maneuvers each burn representing a
firing that would one day take men from
the surface of the Moon to the
spacecraft which would take them home
again national bird looks good good
birthday oh very good thank you
the lunar module had left its bulky
four-legged descent stage in orbit now
only the half cent stage and crew would
return each burn a Stefan a computerized
choreography which would lead to the
rendezvous
I think reflect about the context P okay
which right now they did I just think it
one of those in ride right up okay I
have is about 330 feet okay closer this
you're gonna repo how does that work car
handled him pretty nice
in order to dock I'm exhibiting to use a
sighting device on a lunar module
docking window however the brilliance of
the sunlight made using a sight
difficult alone in the command module
Scott help talking exhibit in are you
coming fine keep coming if you like that
let it go forward to your rival bit
talking to your body I can throw my
attitude a mile and then now you're
coming in okay take a quick fill up and
I take a break up for the past three
days
it had been a full five days that the
lunar module had checked out beyond
expectations in all aspects it seemed
ready for the moon now it was time to
jettison the Assam stage of the lunar
module to free the command module for
the remainder of the mission when a safe
clearance had been established the final
test the asset engine of the lunar
module was ignited to burn until its
propellant ran out the crew of a bubble
9 watched as their lunar module now
crewless arced away from them very well
I hope I didn't forget anything ever it
is you're a long ways away well the last
five day is the point of Apollo 9
settled into a routine a routine of
picture taking and observations with an
occasional burn to
find the orbit but this routine was a
look into the future a future when land
orbiting space stations operating in
concert with unmanned scientific
satellites could examine the earth from
this vantage point when cameras such as
those on a pole 9 will take multiple
spectral photographs from visible light
through the infrared locating hitherto
untapped geological and biological
resources and perhaps even more
important when man can look at his world
with a new perspective quantitatively
and qualitatively observed the results
of his actions on the face of his world
for with the power man controls he can
change the nature of his planet he can
no longer think of unrelated occurrences
he must realize that he exists within
the structure of Earth's planetary
ecological system he can observe with
this new technology the results of his
interaction with his environment water
pollution on the coast of the United
States air pollution of a major city the
results of damming a river of irrigating
a desert
but Apollo 9 was not an orbiting
laboratory
it was the third manned mission of
Apollo and it was time to come down the
prime recovery area had been shifted
several hundred miles because of weather
conditions in the original recovery zone
with the appropriate changes made to its
flight path Apollo 9 made its final
descent into the atmosphere the crew
took these pictures of the re-entry and
opening of the parachutes
the 10-day mission of Apollo nine had
met all its major goals
the ability to work and make a
contingency transfer in the spacesuit
and the PLSS had been proven the
capability of the lunar module to
fulfill its vital role and the
exploration of the moon had been
established the flight of Apollo nine
showed that we are indeed ready ready
for the next step in meeting what may be
the most significant challenge of our
time the conquest of the moon
and
you
you
