Life Support in Space
To help astronauts survive the forbidding environment of space, the Apollo spacecraft were designed with many safety features. The command and lunar modules protected the astronauts against such hazards as cosmic radiation, extremes of heat and cold, and micro-meteoroids. The Environmental Control Systems and the Crew Life Support Systems in the spacecraft provided the crews with oxygen, food and water.

Emergency Oxygen Mask and Hose
This mask was carried on the Apollo 11 flight and would have been used if smoke or another toxic gas had filled the spacecraft before the astronauts could don their space suits.

Lithium Hydroxide Canister
The atmosphere in the Apollo spacecraft was 100% oxygen, at a pressure of five pounds per square inch. The oxygen system constantly added fresh oxygen to the cabin to replenish that breathed by the crew. Carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts was removed by canisters of lithium hydroxide. This canister was carried on the Apollo 11 mission.

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-- -- TIMELINE -- --


Racing to Space
The Moon decision
To reach the moon
Apollo 11
Later Apollo missions
What we learned about the Moon
After the Apollo Program


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Created: 7/99