The Apollo spacecraft consisted of three detachable units atop a Saturn V booster rocket..

On top is the conical Command Module where the three astronauts worked and lived throughout the flight, except when two of them descended to the Moon's surface in the Lunar Module.

The second unit was the Service Module, which housed the electrical power system, the environment control system, and a 21,500-pound-thrust restartable engine. The Service Module remained attached to the Command Module until just before the astronauts re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on the homeward journey.

The third unit was the Lunar Module, which carried two astronauts to the Moon's surface and back.

From the tip of the Apollo's Launch Escape System to the base of the Saturn V booster, the entire Apollo space flight vehicle stood 36 stories tall and weighed 6.1 million pounds.

[graphic is from Man In Space, published by Science Service in 1971]

SEE ALSO
Saturn V
Apollo Command Module
Lunar Module

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This page was last updated on 05/27/2017.