Apollo 9

The Apollo 9 mission patch is simple and obvious: the mission was the first crewed test of both Apollo spacecraft — the CSM and the LM; and it was launched on a Saturn V. No symbolism here, just straightforward, concrete hardware. Commander McDivitt was a no-nonsense kind of guy, and that comes through in this no-nonsense patch. The only subtlety is the red interior of the “D” in McDivitt’s name: Apollo 9 was the “D” mission in Owen Maynard’s plan of missions:

Letter Designation	Objective	Flown as
A	Launch vehicle/spacecraft development; lunar-return entry velocity	Apollo 4 Apollo 6
B	Lunar module development, propulsion and staging	Apollo 5
C	CSM evaluation / crew performance	Apollo 7
C-prime	CSM deep space evaluation [a later addition to the plan]	Apollo 8
D	LM evaluation / CSM crew performance combined operations	Apollo 9
E	CSM / LM combined deep space operations	not flown
F	Lunar mission / deep space evaluation	Apollo 10
G	Lunar landing	Apollo 11

... Owen Maynard presented plans for scheduling seven types of missions that would lead step by step to the ultimate goal. He described these steps, “A” through “G,” with G as the lunar landing mission.
—Chariots for Apollo

North American Rockwell artist Allen Stevens was once again tapped for the design, after having done the artwork for the Apollo 1 and Apollo 7 patches.

[ap09-aw1]
NASA photo S69-18569
The original artwork for the Apollo 9 patch, by North American Rockwell artist Allen Stevens. As with the Apollo 7 design, the lettering is Microgramma Bold. Where other artists would use a solid color, Stevens liked to give his big open areas some texture, and he did so boldly in this design. Another little “tweak” against convention is the very top of the Saturn V protruding beyond the blue circle into the red border.

[ap09-aw2]
NASA photo S69-19974
The MSC art department was tasked with preparing “finalized” artwork for use in publications and other uses. Contract artist Norman Tiller was assigned the job and produced this version, which exhibits several changes from ap09-aw1. Two are understandable: first, the Saturn V was reduced in height so that it didn’t protrude into the red border — a necessity for the embroidered versions of the patch; and second, he changed the trademark Stevens “mottled” background to a smooth blue. But then some other curiously arbitrary changes crept in as well: the distance between the CSM and the LM was reduced by almost half, and the terminus of the yellow oval near the SPS was depicted as an arrow tail rather than an arrow head. All in all, these were fairly innocuous changes, and except for the CSM-LM separation distance didn’t appreciably alter the look of the design.

[ap09-aw4]
NASA photo KSC-68PC-377
For no apparent reason, a second “finalized” artwork was prepared — probably by the KSC art department (an assumption based on the photo ID). In this version, the most noticeable change is that the extremely distinctive Microgramma Bold lettering was changed to Annonce Grotesque, a much more pedestrian font. Then the yellow oval was reduced in size, and tilted somewhat counter-clockwise. The window in the front of the LM was relocated upward a bit. The RCS quads on the CSM were significantly reduced in size, making them very tiny and much more difficult to execute in an embroidered patch. The yellow oval was a bit squashed, and the ends made noticeably thicker.

[ap09-aw3]
(detail from NASA photo 69-HC-0098)
This “plaque” was created at KSC, probably for use on the astronaut transfer van. Why ap09-aw4 wasn’t used, we will probably never know. This deviates far more from the original than any of the other versions: the Saturn V has become much fatter, the yellow oval is far smaller, and tilted close to 45 degrees; the spacecraft are smaller and closer; and most noticeable of all, the lettering is completely unlike any of the other versions. At least the font used on ap09-aw4 was an extended font (meaning the letters are generally wider than they are tall). The font used here is proportionally taller, meaning the lettering occupies a lot more space in the patch.

[ap09-bc1]
ap09-aw4 is clearly the artwork that was used as the basis for this Beta cloth version of the Apollo 9 patch.
77mm dia

[ap09-em1]
It appears that the embroidered patches worn by the crew in their formal portrait (S69-17590) were based on the ap09-aw2, except that the lettering was changed from Microgramma Bold, to Eurostile. This patch in inscribed on the back: “Flown aboard Apollo 9,” and signed by Dave Scott.
83mm dia

[ap09-em3]
The Lion Brothers version — like the AB Emblem version, probably also based on ap09-aw3. It is perhaps a little bit better than the AB Emblem version, but not by much. The biggest difference is that the Saturn V is actually “skinnier” here than in any other version. Easily the worst of the Lion Brothers patches. The blue background is unembroidered twill.
89mm dia

[ap09-em2]
Here we have the travesty that is the AB Emblem embroidered patch. Clearly it was based on the artwork ap09-aw3, which accounts for a lot of the problems; but the CSM and LM are really inexcusably bad. It has been observed that the rocket depicted here looks more like an Atlas than a Saturn V, and I agree with that assessment.
98mm w × 100mm h

[ap09-em4]
Here is a more recent remake of the Apollo 9 patch, by far the most faithful 4″ embroidered version I’ve ever seen — though is clearly based on ap09-aw2 rather than the first-generation ap09-aw1.
101mm dia

Concept art by Al Stevens for the Apollo 9 patch. At the time he did this, the mission was intended to follow Apollo 7, and was thus called Apollo 8. The mission actually flown as Apollo 8 was inserted in the sequence when it became clear that the LM was seriously behind schedule. notice the orientation of the LM here — it appears that it has just undocked from the CSM.

Almost there, this Al Stevens rendering is close to the final Apollo 9 patch. The hardware will be shuffled around a bit, the Saturn V coloring will change, and the orbit will be tilted around 40° clockwise, but otherwise this is it... except for one thing: the LM’s back is to the CSM. Very odd. Thanks to Noah Bradley for this and the previous image.

NASA photo S69-17590
Despite the photo number, this crew portrait was taken in December 1968.

This detail from the crew portrait S69-17590 shows that the crew were wearing embroidered patches at the time. This patch matches the “flown” patch [ap09-em1] pictured above.

NASA photo S69-18876
The Apollo 9 crew showing off their mission patch. This appears to be the original artwork for the patch, ap09-aw1.

NASA photo 69-HC-0098
The Apollo 9 crew with KSC’s version of their mission patch at a press conference on 25 January 1969. I believe that this was the plaque which was mounted on the door of the astronaut transfer van. Thanks to Ed Hengeveld for this photo.

Crew

Artwork

Apollo 9