Offloading of the Orion Crew Module Adapter, CMA, at Plum Brook Station. The adapter will connect Orion’s crew module to a service module provided by ESA (European Space Agency). NASA is preparing for a series of tests that will check out the Orion European Service Module, a critical part of the spacecraft that will be launched on future missions to an asteroid and on toward Mars.

The Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules photographed through the window from the Lunar Module,"Spider",on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission. Docking mechanism is visible in nose of the Command Module,"Gumdrop". Film magazine was F, film type was SO-368 Ektachrome with 0.460 - 0.710 micrometers film / filter transmittance response and haze filter,80mm lens

Ascent stage of Apollo 10 Lunar Module seen from Command module

AS10-34-5112 (26 May 1969) --- The ascent stage of the Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM) is photographed from the Command Module prior to docking in lunar orbit. The LM is approaching the Command and Service Modules from below. The LM descent stage had already been jettisoned. The lunar surface in the background is near, but beyond the eastern limb of the moon as viewed from Earth (about 120 degrees east longitude). The red/blue diagonal line is the spacecraft window.

The Lunar Module for Apollo 11 moves from the landing gear fixture and mate to the spacecraft-lunar module adapter.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module

Apollo Spacecraft 104 Command/Service Module and Lunar Module 3 arrive at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for mating atop the Saturn 504 launch vehicle. The Saturn 504 stack is out of view. The Saturn V first (S-IC) stage in left background is scheduled for a later flight.

Apollo spacecraft Command/Service Module and Lunar Module 3 arrive at VAB

ESA Service Module Overview

ESA Service Module Chronology

Orion Crew Module KSC Ground Ops Pathfinder

View of the Apollo 16 Command/Service Module from the Lunar module in orbit

AS16-113-18282 (23 April 1972) --- The Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Casper" approaches the Lunar Module (LM) "Orion", from which this photograph was made. The two spacecraft are about to make their final rendezvous of the mission, on April 23, 1972. Astronauts John W. Young, commander, and Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, aboard the LM, were returning to the CSM, in lunar orbit, after three successful days on the lunar surface. Astronaut Thomas K. (Ken) Mattingly II, command module pilot, remained with the CSM in lunar orbit, while Young and Duke descended in the LM to explore the Descartes region of the moon.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module ascent stage photographed from Command Module

AS11-44-6626 (21 July 1969) --- The Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) ascent stage, with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. aboard, is photographed from the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit. Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the CSM in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon. The LM is approaching from below. The coordinates of the center of the lunar terrain seen below is located at 102 degrees east longitude and 1 degree north latitude.

Artemis 1 Crew Module and Service Module Stacking

The Orion crew module for Artemis 1 is lowered by crane atop its service module on July 16, 2019, in the high bay inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians begin the work to secure the crew module onto the service module in the final assembly and test cell. The Orion spacecraft is being prepared for its uncrewed test flight atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 is the first test flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system. Orion will travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon during a mission that will test its systems in space and during re-entry. The spacecraft will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean where it will be retrieved and transported back to Kennedy.

Cupola Module

Artemis II Orion Crew Module to Service Module Mate

Engineers connect the Orion crew and service modules for the Artemis II mission on Oct. 19, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the crew and service modules integrated, the team will power up the combined crew and service module for the first time. After power on tests are complete, Orion will begin altitude chamber testing, which will put the spacecraft through conditions as close as possible to the environment it will experience in the vacuum of deep space. The crew and service modules are the two major components of Orion that will fly NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a mission around the Moon and bring them home safely.

Artemis II Orion Crew Module to Service Module Mate

Engineers connect the Orion crew and service modules for the Artemis II mission on Oct. 19, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the crew and service modules integrated, the team will power up the combined crew and service module for the first time. After power on tests are complete, Orion will begin altitude chamber testing, which will put the spacecraft through conditions as close as possible to the environment it will experience in the vacuum of deep space. The crew and service modules are the two major components of Orion that will fly NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a mission around the Moon and bring them home safely.

Apollo 9 Mission image - Command Module

The Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules photographed from the Lunar Module,"Spider",on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission. Docking mechanism is visible in nose of the Command Module,"Gumdrop". Object jutting out from the Service Module aft bulkhead is the high-gain S-Band antenna. Film magazine was F, film type was SO-368 Ektachrome with 0.460 - 0.710 micrometers film / filter transmittance response and haze filter,80mm lens.

Apollo 13 Service Module and Lunar Module as entering Earth's atmosphere

S70-17646 (18 April 1970) --- An unidentified airline passenger snapped these bright objects, believed to be the Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) and Lunar Module (LM) as they entered Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on April 18, 1970. The aircraft, an Air New Zealand DC-8 was midway between the Fiji Islands (Nandi Island to be specific) and Auckland, New Zealand, when the photograph was taken. The crew men of the problem plagued Apollo 13 mission jettisoned the LM and SM prior to entering Earth's atmosphere in the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM).