40 Years after Apollo 11: July 11, part 2

Originally written on July 11th, 2009…

The rocket is ready. 363 feet tall. The little white part right above the silver part is the command module, where the astronauts will be spending some quality time. The silver part is the service module that contains oxygen for the crew and a small rocket that will be used to get the crew back from lunar orbit. The panels right below the silver part enclose and protect the lunar module.

At the very top is the emergency escape tower. If something were to happen to the rocket at or soon after launch, the escape tower would fire and blast the command module (and astronauts) up and away to safety.