As the service module moved away, they saw for the first time the damage done by the exploding oxygen tank.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

The astronauts would ride to the moon in the command module and then ride back to Earth in it.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

They had to do this by firing the lunar module rocket engine for just the right amount of time.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

Finally,spacecraft commander Armstrong and NASA flight controllers agreed it was time to separate the lander module Eagle from the command module Columbia.

VOA: special.2009.07.15

During the flight, they separated the lunar lander from the command module and flew it for eight hours.

VOA: special.2009.07.08

And they had to make this move without the equipment in the command module that kept the spacecraft on its flight path.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

Later,the landing vehicle would carry them back to the command module for the return trip to Earth.

VOA: special.2009.07.08

One hour before landing, Lovell,Swigert and Haise said thanks and goodbye to their lifeboat, the lunar module.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

They rested for a while. Then they began to prepare to launch the lander for the return flight to the orbiting command module.

VOA: special.2009.07.15

On May twenty-third, the lander rejoined the command module one hundred kilometers above the moon.

VOA: special.2009.07.08

Engineers on the ground designed a way the astronauts could connect air-cleaning devices from the command module to the air system in the lunar module.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

They turned on the necessary equipment and broke away from the damaged service module.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

Apollo flights Five and Six tested the moon-landing module and the Saturn Five rocket.

VOA: special.2009.07.08

Equipment was hanging from a huge hole in the side of the module.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

The crew moved back to the command module a few hours before landing.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

The temperature inside the lunar module was only a few degrees above freezing.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

Then they returned to the orbiting command module and started back to Earth.

VOA: special.2009.07.29

The lunar module was ready. Men were about to land on the moon.

VOA: special.2009.07.15

The lunar module had a few devices for removing carbon dioxide.

VOA: special.2009.07.22

The number two oxygen tank in the service module had exploded.

VOA: special.2009.07.22