WALTER CUNNINGHAM [APOLLO 7]

A major objective of the mission was to rendezvous, without benefit of radar, with the second stage of their Saturn booster (SIVB). The S-IVB remained attached to the CSM for about one-and-a-half orbits until separation. Schirra fired the CSM’s small rockets to pull 50 feet ahead of the S-IVB, then turned the spacecraft around to simulate rendezvous and docking, as would be necessary to extract a Lunar Module (LM) for future Moon landings. In the last mile, closing maneuvers were made by eyeballing the target. Here, the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) on the rocket’s second stage opens like a giant flower during Apollo 7’s simulated docking. The photograph was taken at an altitude of 125 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean.