The three modules that made up the spacecraft sat on top of a Saturn V or Saturn IB launch vehicle. The first manned Apollo flight in earth orbit, scheduled for 21 February, 1967, was delayed when on 27 January, 1967, during a countdown rehearsal, a fire broke out inside the spacecraft cabin and spread rapidly in the concentrated oxygen environment at higher than sea level pressure. The ascent stage met and docked with the command module in lunar orbit. The command and service modules together were called the Command-and-Service Module, or CSM. The Command Module (CM) was the spacecraft’s control centre and housed the three-man crew of astronauts. After the crew entered the command module for the trip back to Earth, the lunar module was released and eventually crashed into the Moon. The Apollo capsule was conical in shape. Below the Command Module was the Service Module. An Apollo spacecraft carried three hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells in the service module. All rights reserved. The re-entry vehicle was 3.17 m long, 3.66 m across, had a total mass of 2,540 kg, and a hypersonic L/D ratio of 0.52. J-2 Engines (1:144 Set of 6) $ 28.45 by Meatball Rocketry. Missions 11 through 17 were Lunar Landing Missions, although Apollo 13 failed to reach the moon’s surface. The six successful lunar landings yielded almost 400 kilograms of samples. Apollo Command and Service modules were flown by the United States between 1966 and 1975. The ascent stage then was programmed to crash into the Moon. This section was 29 feet long and 21.7 feet in diameter where it joined the S-IVB stage. The spacecraft subsequently was used for ground testing. Designing, testing and building it … Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to enter a lunar orbit. It’s July 20 as I start this column, exactly fifty years since Apollo 11 became the first space mission to land Earthlings on the moon. The instant of lift-off was 9:32 a.m. EDT, July 16, 1969. The Lunar Module (LM) was used for descent to the lunar surface and served as a base while the astronauts were on the Moon. On December 24, Apollo 8 became the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. Astronauts spent increasingly more time on the surface as well. Space Mission Architecture. The LM cutaway appears just as it would have during a moon-landing mission. The spacecraft were grouped into two major configurations. Apollo 7 through Apollo 10: The first manned Apollo missions, these flights tested the spacecraft's performance. Two days into the mission, Joe Kerwin, the capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on duty, indicated the spacecraft was in good shape and even joked about boredom. Earth landings would be by glidesail parachute near San Antonio, Texas. This artist’s concept of the Apollo re-entry shows that air friction causes the capsule to glow red hot. Project Apollo was the third NASA human spaceflight program. The trip to the Moon from Earth took about three days. It's quite easy if you can draw ellipses! The blunt-end design for the Command Module was chosen to build upon experience gained with the similarly shaped Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. This required keeping the oxygen at -173°C (-280°F) and at a pressure of 63.26 After three days of travel through space, the astronauts and the three Apollo spacecraft—command module Columbia, the Service Module, and the Lunar Module Eagle—entered orbit around the Moon on July 19. The Apollo Spacecraft consisted of three modules: Command, Service and Lunar. Note the compartment for storing the rover on the lower front. This chapter deals with the Trajectories and Orbits segment of the Space Mission Architecture. Andrew Chaikin’s latest book is Voices From the Moon: Apollo Astronauts Describe Their … Scientists chose to use a technique called the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, which in a way involved using two sets of spacecraft for one flight. Unlike a storage battery, a fuel cell continues to supply current as long as chemical reactants are available or replenished (even while the cell is operating). In December 1968, Frank Borman commanded Apollo 8, the first human space flight mission to orbit the Moon. No living organisms, fossils or native organic compounds were found. To learn more about the Lunar Module transposition and docking, as well as descending to the lunar surface, visit the page At the Moon. Aircraft - Apollo. Member Gallery (Pictures shared by our community) ... DML NASA Apollo 15 J-Mission CSM Space Program Plastic Model 1/72 scale #50397. When oxygen and hydrogen combine to form water, energy is released because the electrons in the water molecule are in a lower energy state than those in the gas molecules. The Service Module also housed the service propulsion system—the rocket engine that put the spacecraft into lunar orbit and later boosted it back toward Earth. This was the first spaceflight of the Apollo Spacecraft. 5. Independence Ave at 6th St, SWWashington, DC 20560 Early missions were conducted using Block 1 spacecraft, while later flights, including all lunar missions, were flown using Block 2 spacecraft. During Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin spent just two hours and 24 minutes on the moon’s surface. Manufacturer: North American Rockwell for NASA, Weight (with Crew & Propellant): 14,700 kg (32,500 lb), Descent Engine Thrust: 44,316 Newtrons (9870 lb) maximum, 4710 Newtons (1050 lb) minimum, Ascent Engine Thrust: 15,700 Newtons (3500 lb), Fuel: 50-50 mix of Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine (UDMH) & Hydrazine, Prime Contractor: Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Figure 4.1.7-1. Experiments performed during the Apollo missions studied soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismic activity, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields and solar wind. The first spacecraft, the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, was launched on October 4, 1957; it weighed 83.6 kg (184 pounds). The preferred command module was a flat-topped blunt half cone lifting-body concept, similar to the HL-10 shape developed by Alfred Eggers at Ames. After the landing, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent a few hours collecting dust and rocks from the lunar surface before catching a bit of sleep and departing to rendezvous with Michael Collins in the command module orbiting above. Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division of United Aircraft Corporation, National   Air   and   Space   Museum A separate ascent stage, comprising the top portion of the Lunar Module, lifted the astronauts from the Moon's surface to rendezvous and dock with the command module, orbiting the Moon. The Gemini spacecraft, which preceded the Apollo spacecraft, carried two hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell battery sections in its adapter/equipment section. 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