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Transposition, docking, and extraction
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<p>Transposition, docking, and extraction (often abbreviated to transposition and docking) was a maneuver performed during <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo</a> <a href="/facts/Lunar_landing/RMXHoEpg">lunar landing</a> missions from 1969 to 1972, to withdraw the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Lunar_Module/XtvQS5K5">Apollo Lunar Module</a> (LM) from its <a href="/facts/Apollo_spacecraft/gv7k516G">adapter housing</a> which secured it to the <a href="/facts/Saturn_V/WhpUEFJM">Saturn V</a> <a href="/facts/Launch_vehicle/g1GCGFJB">launch vehicle</a> upper stage and protected it from the <a href="/facts/Aerodynamic_force/V9C98uHk">aerodynamic stresses</a> of launch. The maneuver involved the command module pilot separating the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Command_and_Service_Module/rfoTgzFx">Apollo Command and Service Module</a> (CSM) from the adapter, turning the CSM around, and <a href="/facts/Docking_and_berthing_of_spacecraft/zUWc9rvu">docking</a> its nose to the Lunar Module, then pulling the combined spacecraft away from the upper stage. It was performed shortly after the <a href="/facts/Trans-lunar_injection/nc16VTrG">trans-lunar injection</a> maneuver that placed the <a href="/facts/Apollo_spacecraft/gv7k516G">Apollo spacecraft</a> on a three-day trajectory to the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a>. The docking created a continuous, pressurized tunnel which permitted the astronauts to transfer internally between the CSM and the LM. </p><p>The same maneuver was performed on the 1975 <a href="/facts/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz_Test_Project/PzMemSeQ">Apollo–Soyuz Test Project</a> (ASTP) mission to extract a special docking module used to connect the Apollo Command Module with the <a href="/facts/Soyuz_spacecraft/meooRg7U">Soyuz spacecraft</a>. </p>