Astronauts wives meet . Seabrook , Texas ; Mrs Pat McDivitt ( left ) bids goodbye to Mrs Clare Schweickart as she leaves the latter ' s home where all three wives of the Apollo - 9 crew gathered to hear Father Lawrence Connelley describe his breakfast meeting with their husbands on launch day . Father Connelley , Pastor of St Paul ' s Catholic Church in the Nassau Bay community where the Astronauts live , was at Cape Kennedy for the launch . The three Astronauts were about to don their pressure spacesuits , with two of them climbing into the Moonbug for the first " Gumdrop " and " Spider " TV show . 5 March 1969