The Apollo lunar module was the first true spacecraft - designed to fly only in a vacuum, with no aerodynamic qualities whatsoever. Lauched attached to the Apollo command/service module, it separeted in lunar orbit and descended to the Moon with two astronauts inside. At the end of their stay on the surface, the lunar module's ascent stage fired its own rocket to rejoin the command/service module in lunar orbit. | ![]() |
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Boosting the Apollo vehicles to the Moon was the job of the giant Saturn V - the first launch vehicle large enough that it had to be assembled away from the lauch pad and transported there. A fueled Saturn V weighed more than 2.7 million kilograms at liftoff, and it stood 110.64 meters high with the Apollo vehicle on top. The vehicle had three stages - S-IC, SII, S-IVB - the last of which burned to send Apollo ou of the Earth orbit and on its way to the Moon. |