Apollo 7 "The Wally, Walt, and  Donn Show"	Apollo 7 was crewed by Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham and commanded  by Wally Schirra.  It was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL on October 11, 1968.  The mission's goals were to: "Demonstrate Command/Service Module (CSM) and crew performance; demonstrate crew/space vehicle and mission support facilities performance during a manned Command/Service Module mission; demonstrate Command/Service Module rendezvous capability."  The crew performed and was a part of many tests on different systems of the spacecraft for almost 11 days; all systems operated as intended.  There was much debate among engineers as to the weight that television cameras added to the spacecraft; NASA engineers spent much time shaving kilograms and even grams off of the weight of the spacecraft.  However, the engineers were persuaded to allow the cameras on board.  This was excellent because the crew was able to send the first live telecasts from orbit and give the world its first view of space.  This was the astronauts favorite time during the mission; it helped take their minds off the fact they that were all suffering from a cold, which can be rather brutal in space considering the lack of gravity to help drain the mucus from the ears and head.  Although, the astronauts were uncomfortable they managed through 163 orbits around the Earth and the mission's deorbit, entry and landing sequence, all of which went smoothly.	Click on the Crew  to see pictures of the mission   Apollo 7 Crew Apollo 7 Crew Patch
Apollo 9 "Spider's Maiden Voyage"	Apollo 9 was crewed by James McDivitt, David Scott, and Russell Schweickart.  It was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 3, 1969.  The main goal of Apollo 9 was to test the Lunar Module. Astronauts were the first to conduct a manned flight of the Lunar Module, the space vehicle that would eventually, in later missions, land on the moon, and to qualify the LM for lunar operations. At approximately 70 hours into the 10-day mission in Earth orbit, the Lunar Module, Spider, successfully separated from the Command Module.  It then proceeded to check the legs of the LM to see if they were extended properly and did several test burns.  The Lunar Module orbited the Earth for several hours before its successful redevous and docking with the Command Module.	Click on the Crew to see pictures of the mission   Apollo 9 Crew   Apollo 9 Crew Patch

Last Updated May 22, 2000                                                                                                                   a SCEN103 Project