190. [Apollo 9] IGNITION OF THE S-IVB THIRD STAGE FOR EARTH ESCAPE TRAJECTORY Russell Schweickart, David Scott or James McDivitt, 3-13 March 1969 Printed 1969. Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper [NASA image AS9-19-2946]. Numbered "NASA image AS9-19-2946" in red in the top margin, with "A Kodak Paper" watermark on the reverse (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas). 25.4 x 20.3 cm. (10 x 8 in.) Historical context This stunning oblique view shows the SIVB stage of the Saturn V rocket drifting above the Earth horizon over the Pacific Ocean. Following the extraction of the LM from the adapter atop the Saturn V S-IVB third stage, the Apollo 9 spacecraft adjusted its orbit to move 2,000 feet away from the S-IVB. The S-IVB engine was then reignited twice, simulating a translunar injection—a manoeuvre that would later be used to send Apollo 10 and subsequent missions toward the Moon. The stage was then placed on an Earth escape trajectory into solar orbit.