Photo - Apollo/Saturn (A/S)-11 w/Flotation Collar Secured - Ship's Hoist

S69-20086 (13 March 1969) --- The Apollo 9 Command Module (CM), with flotation collar still attached, is hoisted aboard the prime recovery ship, USS Guadalcanal, during recovery operations. The Apollo 9 crew, astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, had already been picked up earlier by helicopter and flown to the dock of the carrier. Splashdown occurred at 12:00:53 p.m. (EST), March 13, 1969, only 4.5 nautical miles from the aircraft carrier, to conclude a successful 10-day Earth-orbital space mission.