Apollo
Perhaps of the most famous ships in spatial history, mainly because it was one in which it reached the moon, it flew between 1968 and the early seventies. Its structure, more complex than the previous ones, is totally conceived for the purposes of reaching the natural satellite. Therefore, it consisted of three parts: the lunar module, the command module and the service module.
The first was in charge of alunizar and return to lunar orbit. For these purposes it had an ascent module, with the crew cabin, instrument panels, a hatch to connect with the control module, control systems, communication antennas, rocket and fuel to return to the lunar orbit; and another of descent with landing equipment, radar antenna, descent motor and its fuel.
Then, the control module was the control center of the entire ship and the housing area for the crew. It contained the cabin, seats, instrumental and control equipment, a side hatch and even windows.
As for the service module, the fuel, the engine and the propulsion system were contained here to enter and leave the lunar orbit.
In general, the Apollo measured 10 meters in length by .66 meters in diameter, and had a weight of 4 thousand kilograms.
In addition to the memorable mission of the Apollo XI in which the moon was reached, this ship starred a failed flight with Apollo XIII – of which the phrase “Houston was, we have a problem” – and the one that has taken in total to five more missions to the moon, with a sum of 18 astronauts.
Space shuttle
Used by NASA between 1981 and 2011, they have been the largest vehicles created for space missions. Its complex structure consisted of a space aircraft for orbit and reentry (very similar to a conventional aircraft, but with Delta wings), disposable tanks of hydrogen and liquid oxygen, and reusable solid accelerators rockets that could be separated from the main body. In fact, the possibility of reuse was one of the transcendental characteristics of the ferries.