Design Features:
The blunt-end
design for the Command Module was chosen to build upon experience
gained with the similarly shaped Mercury and Gemini spacecraft. The spacecraft
reentered the atmosphere with its protective heat shield (the widest end
of the spacecraft) facing forward. Layers of special "ablative" material
on the shield were purposely allowed to burn away during reentry to help
dissipate the extremely high temperatures caused by atmospheric friction.
- Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 7 in)
- Maximum Diameter: 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
- Weight: 5,900 kg (13,000 lb)
- Manufacturer: North American Rockwell for NASA
- Launch Vehicle: Saturn V
APOLLO 11 COMMAND MODULE HATCH
This is the hatch
from the Apollo 11 Command Module. This single hatch could be
opened outward in five seconds by pumping the handle to activate a pressurized
nitrogen cylinder. Prior to the tragic fire in January 1967 in which three
astronauts died, there were two hatches on the Apollo command module requiring
90 seconds to open.
  Apollo
Guidance and Navigation
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