Page 24 - The Appollo Story

-------------1 The Apollo Storyt-----------.

Apollo 9 (AS-504) Spider and Gumdrop
An extraordinary bundle of angular components, smothered with bris-
tling antennae and perched on four spindly legs, the LM had no regard
for the niceties of aerodynamics as it was designed to operate only in
the vacuum of space. It consisted of two main sections; the lower de-
scent stage with its main engine to land on the Moon, and the upper as-
cent stage with another engine to thrust the astronauts back into lunar
orbit and the awaiting CSM. To save on weight its skin was a little
more than tin foil and a wayward screwdriver could have easily
punched a hole right through it. When Jim McDivitt first saw the LM at
Grumman's Works he described as a 'tissue paper spacecraft.'
Below are two launch covers, one signed by James McDivit

L

AS.504.
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.... rr
witk Astroncmts
JAMES H. MCDIVITT
DAVID R. SCOTT

MAR 3 '69 - 1 1 · 0 0 AM

'K'S-~lff'- ~R11111<f..IE'"

8 o.3- /l', ?''1::!-

/tAh'S#s- C!/'l,

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