Apollo command and service module

The Apollo command and service module (CSM) was one of two principal components of the United States <a href="/facts/Apollo_(spacecraft)/gv7k516G">Apollo spacecraft</a>, used for the <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo program</a>, which landed astronauts on the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a> between 1969 and 1972. The CSM functioned as a <a href="/facts/Mother_ship/uSNuBK2V">mother ship</a>, which carried a crew of three astronauts and the second Apollo spacecraft, the <a href="/facts/Apollo_Lunar_Module/XtvQS5K5">Apollo Lunar Module</a>, to lunar orbit, and brought the astronauts back to Earth. It consisted of two parts: the conical command module, a cabin that housed the crew and carried equipment needed for <a href="/facts/Atmospheric_reentry/p7TMk9sa">atmospheric reentry</a> and <a href="/facts/Splashdown_(spacecraft_landing)/XAn6QTyp">splashdown</a>; and the cylindrical service module which provided propulsion, electrical power and storage for various consumables required during a mission. An <a href="/facts/Umbilical_cable/DNhAMRQI">umbilical</a> connection transferred power and consumables between the two modules. Just before reentry of the command module on the return home, the umbilical connection was severed and the service module was cast off and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere.
The CSM was developed and built for <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> by <a href="/facts/North_American_Aviation/zY6IG0pa">North American Aviation</a> starting in November 1961. It was initially designed to land on the Moon atop a landing rocket stage and return all three astronauts on a <a href="/facts/Direct_ascent/LQnS7CtW">direct-ascent</a> mission, which would not use a separate lunar module, and thus had no provisions for docking with another spacecraft. This, plus other required design changes, led to the decision to design two versions of the CSM: Block I was to be used for uncrewed missions and a single crewed Earth orbit flight (<a href="/facts/Apollo_1/aJEvDnBM">Apollo 1</a>), while the more advanced Block II was designed for use with the lunar module. The Apollo 1 flight was cancelled after a <a href="/facts/Apollo_1/aJEvDnBM">cabin fire killed the crew and destroyed their command module</a> during a launch rehearsal test. Corrections of the problems which caused the fire were applied to the Block II spacecraft, which was used for all crewed spaceflights.
Nineteen CSMs were launched into space. Of these, nine flew humans to the Moon between 1968 and 1972, and another two performed crewed test flights in <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbit</a>, all as part of the Apollo program. Before these, another four CSMs had flown as uncrewed Apollo tests, of which two were <a href="/facts/Sub-orbital_spaceflight/NdLRlGIq">suborbital flights</a> and another two were <a href="/facts/Orbital_spaceflight/xdzKmkvt">orbital flights</a>. Following the conclusion of the Apollo program and during 1973–1974, three CSMs ferried astronauts to the orbital <a href="/facts/Skylab/h7v9LWKE">Skylab</a> space station. Finally in 1975, the last flown CSM docked with the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet</a> craft <a href="/facts/Soyuz_19/PzMemSeQ">Soyuz 19</a> as part of the international <a href="/facts/Apollo%25E2%2580%2593Soyuz_Test_Project/PzMemSeQ">Apollo–Soyuz Test Project</a>.

Apollo command and service module open-in-new

Apollo command and service module