Apollo 9 in early 1969. However, LM problems again prevented it from being ready for the D mission by December, so NASA officials created another mission for Apollo 8 using the Saturn V to launch only the CSM on the first crewed flight to orbit the Moon, and the E mission was cancelled as unnecessary. Slayton asked McDivitt and Borman which mission they preferred to fly; McDivitt wanted to fly the LM, while Borman volunteered for the pioneering lunar flight. Therefore, Slayton swapped the crews, and McDivitt's crew flew Apollo 9. The crew swap also affected who would be the first crew
HMS Apollo (1794) January, and "Apollo" was turned to give chase. The pursuit was hampered by thick fog, and at 7am on the following morning "Apollo" ran aground on the Haak Sandbank adjacent to Texel. Halkett ordered that the ship's stores and guns be thrown overboard in order to lighten her and float her free, but despite these efforts she remained stuck fast in the sands. In the late afternoon, a Prussian galliot was sighted and hailed by "Apollo"s crew. After some negotiation, the Prussian captain agreed to jettison the bulk of his cargo of wines and take 250 of "Apollo"s crew back