Apollo+40: Spider leaves her web

Apollo 9 would feature the first named spacecraft since the flight of the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" of Gemini 3 - a necessity since the CSM and LM would be flying independently. Astronauts McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart named their CSM Gumdrop and the LM Spider; names both highly indicative of the spacecrafts' forms.

At 2:41:16 MET, Command Module Pilot Scott separated Gumdrop from the S-IVB third stage of their Saturn V booster, turned the spacecraft around, and docked with the parked Spider in her hangar provided by the now spent booster.

The first docking of a CSM and LM was completed at 3:01:59 MET; Spider was removed from the S-IVB stage later at 4:08:06 MET.