Apollo 11 the CMP on the Apollo 8 crew, began experiencing trouble with his legs. Doctors diagnosed the problem as a bony growth between his fifth and sixth vertebrae, requiring surgery. Lovell took his place on the Apollo 8 crew, and, when Collins recovered, he joined Armstrong's crew as CMP. In the meantime, Fred Haise filled in as backup LMP, and Aldrin as backup CMP for Apollo 8. Apollo 11 was the second all-veteran crew on an American mission, the first being that of Apollo 10. The next was STS-26 in 1988. The backup crew consisted of Lovell as Commander, William Anders
Apollo 9 October 23, 1981. The descent stage of LM-3 "Spider" (1969-018D) reentered on March 22, 1969. The upper stage of the Apollo 9 Saturn V, S-IVB-504N, (1969-018B) remains in heliocentric (solar) orbit . NASA reports Multimedia Apollo 9 Apollo 9 was the third crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program and the first flight of the command and service module (CSM) with the lunar module (LM, pronounced "lem"). Its three-person crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Module Pilot David Scott, and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart. The crew spent ten days in low Earth orbit testing several aspects