- THE 'UGLY BUG' IN EARTH ORBIT TESTING DURING THE APOLLO 9 MISSION - The Apollo 9 lunar module 'Spider', with a slightly cloudy Earth in the background and landing gear deployed, taken by astronaut David Scott, 3-13 March 1969. Vintage chromogenic photographic print on fibre-based Kodak paper, 25.2 x 20.5 cm (10 x 8 in), (NASA / North American Rockwell), [NASA photo no AS9-21-3182], with 'A KODAK PAPER' watermark on the verso. Near Fine condition. An almost flawless example with just the smallest hint of creasing to a couple of corners. Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, and view gallery images closely. This original vintage photograph, taken by astronaut David Scott, shows the the Lunar Module (LM) 'Spider' - also affectionately nicknamed the 'Ugly Bug' - in orbit around the earth during the Apollo 9 mission, which took place between 3 and 13 March 1969.
The LM is photographed from the Command Module 'Gumdrop'. Piloted by Rusty Schweickart and James McDivitt, 'Spider' is seen in lunar landing configuration with landing gear deployed. The LM was built of wafer-thin metal. A vehicle intended solely for use in space, it was so frail that its flanks would crumple if subjected to flight in Earth's lower atmosphere. Apollo 9 was the only mission where the beauty of the Earth served as a backdrop for the LM and the CM in flight.
The Apollo 9 mission carried six 70mm Hasselblad cameras and returned with 11 magazines of film, this image being from film magazine Magazine 21/B
"After launching on March 3, 1969, the crew performed the first crewed flight of a lunar module, the first docking and extraction of the same, one two-person spacewalk (EVA), and the second docking of two crewed spacecraft—two months after the Soviets performed a spacewalk crew transfer between Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5. The mission concluded on March 13 and was a complete success. It proved the LM worthy of crewed spaceflight, setting the stage for the dress rehearsal for the lunar landing, Apollo 10, before the ultimate goal, landing on the Moon."
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