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before astronauts could land on the moon

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nasa had to prove it had a vehicle to

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take them there

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apollo 9 would be that test

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putting the lunar module through its

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paces in earth orbit

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the lightweight lunar module was the

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first vehicle designed to operate only

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in the vacuum of space

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with no heat shield like all previous

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human spacecraft

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astronauts james mcdivitt dave scott and

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rusty schweiker launched on march 3rd

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the crew labeled their leggy lunar

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module spyder and dubbed the apollo

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command module gumdrop

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during the 10-day mission the crew

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docked and undocked their spacecraft and

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test-fired their engines to simulate the

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journey to the moon's surface

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mcdivit and schweikert flew the apollo

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lunar module while scott remained inside

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the command module

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the astronauts also tested the backpacks

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that would serve as portable life

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support systems for astronauts on the

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lunar surface

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during a pivotal spacewalk schweikert

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climbed out on the lunar module's front

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platform while scott observed from the

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open hatch of the nearby command module

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apollo 9 splashed down in the atlantic

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ocean on march 13 1969

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mcdivitt schweikert and scott and

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gumdrop and spider had set the stage for