The Apollo 11 spacecraft was an efficiently designed space vehicle to successfully carry out the flight to the moon. Boosted and thrown into outer space by the Saturn V rocket, it put the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969. The spacecraft was made up of three fundamental parts: service module (SM), command module (CM), and the lunar module (LM). Michael Collins was in the command module, which was called Columbia, while Neil A Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin were in the lunar module, which was known as Eagle, and which was piloted by the latter astronaut.
The service module was basically a capsule containing the radar, fuel cells, and the restartable rocket engine, delivering a thrust of 22,000 lbf. It separated off from the CM right before re-entrance into the Earth atmosphere and was left adrift in space.
The command module was the cone-shaped, pressurized cabin which was used as the living quarters and command center for the three astronauts. It contained the re-entry heat shield, batteries, communication equipment, and the parachute recovery system. Having a forward-docking hatch and a side hatch, it was the only component of the spacecraft that returned back to Earth in one piece, bring back the three astronauts.
The lunar module was the part of the spacecraft which carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon surface after it jettisoned off the SM. It also took the two astronauts back to the moon orbit to dock back onto the CM. Designed and made by Grumman Aircraft Company, it was powered by a descent and an ascent engine (in two stages). The descent stage section remained on the moon surface, being composed of the landing gear (legs), the landing radar antenna, the descent engine and the fuel tank. On the way back, the ascent stage lifted off, propelled by the ascent engine, as it separated from the descent stage part, and docked back onto the CM.
Saturn V parts
The three parts that made up the spacecraft were boosted by Saturn V, which was a three-stage rocket. The first and second stage were powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines each, while the third stage was propelled by only one Rocketdyne J-2 engine, which was capable of delivering 230,225 lbf of thrust.
Below, diagram showing the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn V rocket components.
Below, Apollo 11 spacecraft and Saturn V rockets parts and names.
Below, photo of Apollo 11 taken on July 20, 1969, as it lifted from launching site.
