Apollo 8 was the first space mission to leave earth's orbit, which it did in December 1968, entering lunar orbit on Christmas Eve of that year, best remembered by Commander Frank Borman's reading of the opening chapter of Genesis. Apollo 8 simply orbited the moon but had no way to land there. The next mission, Apollo 9, in early 1969, was a mission designed to check out the new Lunar Excursion Module, or LEM (i.e., the lander), in earth's orbit. The LEM separated from the Apollo command module (CM) with two of the three astronauts aboard the LEM and one remaining in the CM. The LEM flew separately from the CM for a while, then re-docked with it safely. In mid May of 1969, Apollo 10 was sent into lunar orbit as a final "dress rehearsal" for the planned Apollo 11 lunar landing. Apollo 10 carried a LEM, which separated from the CM, descended to within 8 miles of the lunar surface, then re-docked with the CM. Finally, in July of 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was launched, which landed on the moon on 20July69.
Apollo3 and Apollo9 were thus the only Apollo missions to be launched that did not go to and/or land on the moon.
Spider was the name of the Apollo 9 lunar module. However, the first LM was not on Apollo 9, it was on Apollo 5 (AS-205) an unmanned test.
Apollo 911.
Apollo 9 - Spider Apollo 10 - Snoopy Apollo 11 - Eagle Apollo 12 - Intrepid Apollo 13 - Aquarius Apollo 14 - Antares Apollo 15 - Falcon Apollo 16 - Orion Apollo 17 - Challenger
Apollo 7, Apollo 9, and Apollo 10 did not land on the moon. Apollo 7 was the first crewed mission in the program, testing the spacecraft in Earth orbit. Apollo 9 tested lunar module systems in Earth orbit. Apollo 10 performed a dress rehearsal for the moon landing, orbiting the moon but not landing.
Apollo 9 was launched on March 3, 1969 and returned to earth 10 days later.
October 9, 1967
The two missions before Apollo 11 were Apollo 9 and Apollo 10. Apollo 9 was an Earth orbital test flight of the lunar module, while Apollo 10 was a dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, testing all aspects except for the actual landing on the Moon.
It's Showtime at the Apollo - 1987 20-9 was released on: USA: 9 February 2008
Apollo 7 was the first manned Apollo mission and served as a successful test of the Apollo Command and Service Module in Earth orbit. Apollo 9 tested the Lunar Module in Earth orbit, making it crucial for the subsequent moon landing missions. Both missions were important steps towards the ultimate goal of landing astronauts on the moon.
It's Showtime at the Apollo - 1987 17-9 was released on: USA: 2000
It's Showtime at the Apollo - 1987 18-9 was released on: USA: 2001
Apollo Live - 2012 5-9 was released on: USA: 24 January 2013