Gumdrop and Spider — the first complete Apollo spacecraft

Apollo 9 was the first crewed flight of the complete Apollo spacecraft — the command and service module TOGETHER with the lunar module. Launch, originally set for 28 February, was pushed back five days by NASA because the entire crew had colds.

The ship lifted off on 3 March 1969 at 16:00 UTC on a Saturn V (AS-504), only the second to fly with a crew. It was the “D mission” of the Apollo program — the first in which the lunar module would actually fly with people aboard. Shortly after launch, David Scott successfully docked the command module with the lunar module, extracting it from the adapter atop the discarded S-IVB stage.

Because the modules had to separate in flight, the crew invented their own call signs — the command module “Gumdrop” (after the blue protective wrapping it arrived in from the manufacturer) and the lunar module “Spider” (after its appearance with landing legs extended). NASA public relations thought the names too informal, but they were ultimately approved — and paved the way for the call signs of future missions.