Apollo 9

Apollo 9 was launched on March 3, 1969, with the crew on board (James A. McDivitt, David Randolph Scott, and Russell L. Schweickhart). On the Apollo 9, there was a Command Module, Command Service Module, Lunar Module, a Saturn V rocket, and an instrument unit on the Saturn V rocket. The mission objectives involved the crew practicing maneuvering around the Earth's orbit with Command Module and Lunar Module, practicing safety maneuvers in case of malfunctions in the ship (some of them used on Apollo 13), as well as getting home safely. This mission undoubtedly succeeded and contributed to the Apollo Mission's development by actually practicing procedures to land on the moon.

Facts and Statistics from the NSSDC (National Space Science Data Center) Master Catalog:

The vehicle rocket had three stages, S-IC, S-II, and S-IVB. The CM, a cone-shaped craft about 390 CM in diameter at the large end, served as a command, control, and communications center. Supplemented by the SM, it provided all life support elements for the three crewmen. The spacecraft mass of 26,801 kg is the mass of the CSM including propellants and expendables. The CM was capable of attitude control about three axes and some lateral lift translation. It permitted LM attachment and CM/LM ingress and egress and served as a buoyant vessel at sea. The CSM provided the main propulsion and maneuvering capability. It was jettisoned just before CM reentry. The CSM was a cylinder 390 cm in diameter. The LM was a two-stage vehicle that accommodated two men and could transport them to the lunar surface. On Apollo 9 the CM and LM were separated and some maneuvers, including docking, were completed, but the LM did not land because this was an earth-circling mission. It had its own propulsion, communication, and life support systems. The LM (ID 1969-018C) was jettisoned into Earth orbit before the CM re-entry. The orbit decayed on 23 October 1981. All systems on all spacecraft worked nearly normally during the mission. Apollo 9 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean on 13 March 1969 at 17:00:54 UT (12:00:54 p.m. EST) after a mission elapsed time of 241 hrs, 0 mins, 54 secs. The splashdown point was 23 deg 15 min N, 67 deg 56 min W, 180 miles east of Bahamas and within sight of the recovery ship USS Guadalcanal.