Apollo 9 in Photographs: The Apollo Photo Archive

Apollo 9 proved the viability of several technologies necessary to land on the moon, including the lunar module itself. This volume includes more than 800 images of the mission.

The Apollo Photo Archive series comprises the most comprehensive pictorial record of America’s moon-landing program ever published.

This fourth volume covers Apollo 9, a risky but critical step in the space race with the Soviet Union. Commander Jim McDivitt and command module pilot Dave Scott, both Gemini veterans and Air Force pilots, were joined by civilian rookie Rusty Schweickart as lunar module pilot. While orbiting Earth for 10 days, they achieved the first rendezvous and docking with the lunar module. Schweickart took the first Apollo spacewalk, proving the viability of the spacesuit and backpack for the lunar surface.

The 12-volume Apollo Photo Archive features images of spacecraft and rocket assembly; crew background and training; the countdown, launch, mission, and splashdown; and subsequent crew appearances and activities. This volume, Apollo 9 in Photos, includes more than 800 images, of which many pre- and postflight photos have never been published.

J. L. Pickering, who has amassed the world's largest private archive of US human space flight images, has been conducting historical photo research on the US space program for nearly 50 years. This includes assembling, studying, and organizing a personal collection of more than 250,000 prints, transparencies, and digital files. Today he serves as a resource for authors, museums, astronauts, and others. He lives in Illinois.

John Bisney is an author, journalist, and retired network news correspondent who covered the space program for more than 30 years for CNN, the Discovery Science Channel, RKO, and SiriusXM Radio. He witnessed more than 60 space shuttle launches and was one of the few broadcasters at the 1986 Challenger disaster. He holds a master of arts degree in journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He lives in the Tampa Bay area.