Above: Looking like a huge toy top the conical command module was crammed with some of the most complex equipment ever sent into space. The three astronaut couches were surrounded by instrument panels, navigation gear, radios, life-support systems, and small engines to keep it stable during reentry. The entire cone, 11 feet long and 13 feet in diameter, was protected by a charring heat shield. The 6.5-ton CM was all that was finally left of the 3000-ton Saturn V stack that lifted oft on the journey to the Moon.



Below: Packed with plumbing and tanks, the service module was the CM's constant companion until just before reentry. So all components not needed during the last few minutes of flight, and therefore requiring no protection against reentry heat, were transported in this module. It carried oxygen for most of the trip; fuel cells to generate electricity (along with the oxygen and hydrogen to run them); small engines to control pitch, roll, and yaw; and a large engine to propel the spacecraft into -and out of- lunar orbit.