Fifty Years Ago: Spider, Gumdrop and Red Rover in Space

This is a continuation of part I, which you can read here.

The third day in space for the Apollo 9 crew of Commander James A. McDivitt, Command Module (CM) Pilot David R. Scott and Lunar Module (LM) Pilot Russell L. Schweickart proved to be extremely busy. The major task ahead of them was the initial activation of the LM Spider. Schweickart was first to float through the tunnel from the CM, followed about an hour later by McDivitt. The two closed the hatch behind them and began bringing the LM’s systems to life, including extending the vehicle’s four landing legs. 

McDivitt informed mission control that Schweickart had experienced symptoms of space motion sickness, including vomiting twice, but that he now felt better. Mission control, in consultation with flight surgeons and the crew, agreed that the mission could continue as planned. However, out of an abundance of caution, the spacewalk scheduled for the next day would be curtailed. Instead of translating to Gumdrop and back as originally planned, Schweickart would remain on Spider’s front porch to evaluate the spacesuit and Portable Life Support System (PLSS) backpack. Schweickart and McDivitt then began the first TV transmission of the mission, a seven-minute broadcast showing the duo in the confined space of the LM.

Left: View of mission control during one of the live TV broadcasts from Apollo 9. Right: From left, Flight Directors Gerald D.Griffin, Eugene F. Kranz and M.P. “Pete” Frank confer during the Apollo 9 mission.

The next major activity of the day was the first test of the Descent Propulsion System (DPS) engine, the rocket used to land the LM on the Moon. It was first tested during the uncrewed Apollo 5 mission in January 1968. This time, there was a crew onboard and a Crew Service Module docked to the front of the LM. Testing would evaluate if the LM’s engine could serve as a backup in case of a problem with the Service Propulsion System (SPS)—in retrospect, a very useful test given it had to be employed in exactly that fashion during the Apollo 13 mission just over a year later. The burn was an out-of-plane firing, with no major effect on the spacecraft’s altitude. Attitude control, with the digital autopilot and manual throttling of the engine, was also demonstrated.

This, in turn, generated the following from McDivitt. “Looked pretty neat from here, too.”  

The burn completed, the crew settled down for a meal before McDivitt and Schweickart deactivated Spider for the night and transferred back to Gumdrop. The crew’s final activity of the day was the 43-second fifth burn of the SPS, which circularized the spacecraft’s orbit for the rendezvous maneuvers planned for Flight Day 5. During the day, all three of the astronauts’ wives—Pat McDivitt, Lurton Scott and Claire Schweickart—spent some time in Mission Control Center Visitors’ Gallery.

Left: Image from the second TV broadcast, with Schweickart (left) and McDivitt in the LM. Right: Outside the Mission Control Center Visitors’ Gallery, (from left) John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, Pat McDivitt, Manned Spacecraft Center Director of Engineering Max Faget, Lurton Scott and Claire Schweickart.

The Apollo 9 crew members began their fourth day in space by donning their spacesuits after their sleep period, and Schweicakrt and McDivitt once again transferred to Spider, closing the hatch behind them. Once in the LM, Schweickart, fully recovered from his earlier illness, donned the PLSS, which would provide him with oxygen during his spacewalk. Scott received his life support via umbilicals connected to the CM, and McDivitt similarly was using the LM’s life support system. 

McDivitt depressurized Spider, and minutes late Scott did the same with Gumdrop. Schweickart floated out through the LM’s side hatch onto the front porch and said, “Hey, this is, like, spectacular.”

He placed his feet into specialized gold-painted foot restraints dubbed the “golden slippers.” Scott then opened the CM side hatch and floated partway out of the spacecraft. The two spacewalkers could clearly see each other and began filming and taking photographs of their activities. Mission control was now essentially communicating with three different parties, with Schweickart picking up the call sign Red Rover—a nod to his red hair. Scott retrieved some thermal samples from the outside of Gumdrop. Schweickart did the same from the outside of Spider and tested out the handrails near the hatch. He found them to be easy for maneuvering. With those activities concluded, Scott and Schweickart re-entered their respective vehicles and closed and locked the hatches. They had each spent about 37 minutes outside. Mission control considered this first (and the only one before the Moon landing) test of the spacesuits and PLSS a complete success. 

The last major activity of the day was the second TV transmission of the mission, also from the LM, which took place shortly after the spacewalk. In it, McDivitt and Schweickart were still wearing their spacesuits. The quality of the broadcast was much better than the first, and the crew treated viewers to a scene of McDivitt eating. They then pointed the camera out the LM’s top window, showing Gumdrop, and then out one of the forward windows, showing one of the LM’s four attitude control thruster quads and one of the four landing legs. The camera swiveled back into the cabin to display a radiation detector and the LM’s instrument panel. The broadcast lasted about 15 minutes. Afterward, McDivitt and Schweickart returned to Gumdrop to rejoin Scott for the night.