Apollo Command and Service Module Apollo Lunar Module

Apollo CSM, Apollo LM, Apollo Complex

Mission Profile

The Apollo CSM/LM complex is the complete Apollo spacecraft stack that conducted all lunar missions, combining the Command and Service Module (crew quarters, service propulsion, and reentry capsule) with the Lunar Module (lunar lander) launched together atop a Saturn V. The combined spacecraft performed translunar injection and coast, lunar orbit insertion, crew transfer between modules via a pressurized tunnel, powered descent and ascent on the Moon, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, and transearth injection. Across 11 crewed Apollo missions from Apollo 7 through Apollo 17, the CSM and LM combination worked in concert to land 12 humans on the Moon and return all 24 crew members safely to Earth. The CSM/LM combination represented the most complex spacecraft ever flown at the time and set standards for crew safety, mission planning, and spacecraft integration that influenced all subsequent crewed space programs.