Apollo 9 gave the lunar module its first crewed test
On this day · 3 March 1969
Before any astronaut could land on the Moon, the spidery lunar module had to prove it could fly with people aboard.
At 11:00 AM EST on March 3, 1969, a Saturn V rocket lifted Apollo 9 off Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The 10-day Earth-orbital mission carried Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Russell Schweickart.
Unlike the missions before it, Apollo 9 stayed close to home on purpose. Its job was to wring out the lunar module, the fragile-looking craft built to ferry astronauts down to the surface and back. The crew flew the module independently, then rendezvoused and re-docked with the command ship, the maneuver a Moon landing would absolutely require.
Schweickart also stepped outside to test the lunar spacesuit and backpack, the self-contained life-support system astronauts would wear on the surface.
It was the first crewed flight of the complete Apollo hardware. By proving the lunar module could fly, separate, and return, Apollo 9 cleared a crucial hurdle on the road to Apollo 11 just five months later.
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