Manned Space Flight, USA, Apollo 9 Apollo 9 Lunar Module in Earth orbit, 1969

Manned Space Flight, USA, Apollo 9 Apollo 9 Lunar Module in Earth orbit, 1969. Launched on 3rd March 1969, with astronauts James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart on board, Apollo 9 carried out the first test of the complete Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit. The Lunar Module was the part of the spacecraft that ferried two astronauts down to the Moon from lunar orbit during the Apollo manned Moon landing missions, before returning to rendezvous with the Command and Service Module. The first docking manoeuvre between the two modules was performed on the Apollo 9 mission. ©SSPL/NASA