X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Apollo Command/Service Module


Albert L. Hopkins

The system was designed in two forms, one for the command module and one for the lunar module.

Command module

The Apollo Command Module, the crew cabin of the Apollo Command/Service Module, used in the Apollo program to send men to the Moon and low Earth orbit, designed specifically to return through the atmosphere to a water landing

Houston, We've Got a Problem

The title of the film is a misquotation of the ominous announcement made by Commander Jim Lovell following the explosion of an oxygen tank which tore off the side of the spacecraft service module.


Budget of NASA

The costs associated with the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rockets amounted to about $83-billion in 2005 Dollars (Apollo spacecraft cost $28-billion (Command/Service Module $17-billion; Lunar Module $11-billion), Saturn I, Saturn IB, Saturn V costs about $ 46-billion 2005 dollars).

Gumdrop

The Apollo 9 Command module was nicknamed "Gumdrop" — not only did it have the appropriate stumpy cone shape, but it arrived at Cape Kennedy in a blue cellophane wrapper.

Phillips Report

The so-called "Phillips report" was a document summarizing a review conducted in November-December 1965 by a NASA team headed by Lt Gen Samuel C. Phillips, director of the Apollo manned Moon landing program, to investigate schedule slippage and cost overruns incurred by North American Aviation, manufacturer of the Command/Service Module spacecraft and the second stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle.


see also