Apollo 9
First flight of the full Apollo spacecraft
Mission Type
crew
Launch
Landing
James A. McDivitt
Commander
General McDivitt was selected as an astronaut by NASA in September 1962. He was command pilot for Gemini 4 and commander of Apollo 9. This was the first flight of the complete set of Apollo hardware and was the first flight of the Lunar Module. In August 1969, he became Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program and was the program manger for the Apollo 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 missions.
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Russell L. Schweickart
Lunar Module Pilot
Rusty Schweickart joined NASA as one of 14 astronauts named in October 1963, NASA’s third group of astronauts. He served as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 9 in 1969, logging 241 hours in space. This was the third manned flight of the Apollo series and the first manned flight of the lunar module. During a 46 minute EVA, Schweickart tested the portable life support backpack which was subsequently used on the lunar surface explorations.
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David R. Scott
Command Module Pilot
As a NASA astronaut, Scott flew on the Gemini 8 and Apollo 9 missions, and was Commander for Apollo 15. He logged 546 hours and 54 minutes in space, of which 20 hours and 46 minutes were in extravehicular activity. Scott later became the Director of NASA’s Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards, CA.
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Apollo 9 Articles
Learn more about the first Apollo mission to test the Lunar Module.
Apollo 9 Crew Completes First Command and Lunar Module Docking in Space
Launching on March 3, 1969, atop a Saturn V rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in…
50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Completes its Mission
During the first five days of its mission, the Apollo 9 crew of Commander James A. McDivitt, Command Module Pilot…
50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Launched to Test the Lunar Module
At precisely 11:00 AM EST on Mar. 3, 1969, the five F-1 engines roared to life, and the 7.5 million…
50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Countdown Begins
The countdown for the Apollo 9 mission began on Feb. 26, 1969, for a planned launch two days later. However,…
50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Passes Countdown Test
With two weeks to go before the planned lift off, preparations were well underway for the Apollo 9 mission, the…
50 Years Ago: Apollo 9 Preparations at L-6 weeks
Preparations for the Apollo 9 mission continued in January 1969. Commander James A. McDivitt, Command Module Pilot (CMP) David R.…
