Apollo Expeditions to the Moon
CHAPTER 10.3
FIRST MANNED FLIGHT OF THE LM
The Apollo 9 mission was to be the first manned flight in
the lunar module, and the whole purpose of the mission was to
qualify, in flight, that portion of the overall spacecraft
system. Further, we wanted to show that the lunar module, in
combination with the command and service modules, could perform
its assigned tasks in weightless flight. It wasn't necessary to
go to the Moon for this work, so the Apollo 9 mission took place
in Earth orbit. The conditions were the same, insofar as those
qualifying tests were concerned, and we had the further advantage
of a more comfortable situation in case any problems developed.
It was planned to fly a ten-day mission, approximating in
time a complete trip to the Moon, a lunar landing, stay and
ascent, and then return to the Earth. We had developed a mission
profile that would put astronauts into the lunar module on three
separate occasions during the flight, first of all to check a lot
of procedures and other items, and second to do multiple
activations and deactivations of the lunar module. This mission
was the only one in which the LM was powered up and down more
than once; it was done here with the intent of discovering
anything that might go wrong, and to refine the procedures worked
out in simulations.
The lunar module might well be called the first true
spacecraft, since it was designed for flight only in the
environment of space. Folded and stowed as it was in the nose of
the Saturn V, its frail body caused some concern about its
ability to stand up to the stress of a Saturn launch. Some of the
earlier Saturn launches had shown what was called a pogo
oscillation, named after the pogo-stick phenomenon. We wanted to
make certain that the LM would be able to take that longitudinal
acceleration and shock. We also wanted to make sure the
mechanisms for extending its landing legs and pads would not be
jammed by unusual loads in flight, and that the adapter between
the LM and the rest of the spacecraft could take those loads.
Other objectives of the mission included checking propulsion
system operation in both the docked and undocked conditions, to
complete a rendezvous between the LM and the command module, with
the LM being the active partner during the maneuver, and to
demonstrate extravehicular activity from both spacecraft in order
to evaluate the case or difficulty of that kind of task, and to
check out the handholds, handrails, and localized illumination
that had been developed for EVA.
The crew for Apollo 9 was commanded by James A. McDivitt.
David R. Scott was the command pilot and Russell L. Schweickart
was lunar module pilot. There was an initial three-day delay, not
because of any equipment failure but because one of the crew had
a cold. Liftoff occurred on March 3, 1969, at 11 AM The normal
launch phase followed, and then the S-IVB stage was ignited to
place the spacecraft in a nearly circular Earth orbit of about
102 by 104 nautical miles. That orbit was the arena for what was
to follow. In a routine manner, the combined command and service
modules were separated from the rest of the spacecraft, turned in
space, and docked with the lunar module. About one hour later,
the docked spacecraft were ejected from the S-IVB, using the
ejection mechanism for the first time. From this point on, many
of the events were done for the first time.
About two hours after the ejection, the crew fired the
service propulsion system for the first time on that mission, in
a burst that lasted five seconds. It was the first of several
such firings planned to check the service module propulsion
system and the resulting maneuvering capability of the docked and
undocked spacecraft. That task also completed the list of work
for the first day in orbit. It may seem as if there was very
little for the astronauts to do on that first day, but it must be
realized that much time is spent checking and rechecking onboard
systems, the communications and telemetering links to the ground
stations, the receipt of data, and all the myriad tasks that
confront astronauts in space.
On the second day in Earth orbit, the crew of Apollo 9 also
spent much time in systems checks. They fired the service
propulsion system three times, each time with about a two-hour
interval between firings. Two of the firings were long, lasting
almost two and almost five minutes; the third was a shorter burst
of less than a half-minute.
