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spacecraft
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Sputnik 3 Telstar 1 communications satellite with a spherical, panel-covered top and cylindrical base, displayed indoors. Infographic detailing the Apollo program, featuring labeled diagrams of the Apollo Saturn V rocket, command and service modules, lunar module, and the Apollo mission flight path from Earth to the Moon and back. Key components such as engines, hatches, antennas, and fuel tanks are identified, with callouts explaining each module's role and functions. The lower section illustrates each stage of the Apollo flight path, showing the sequence of launch, lunar landing, and return to Earth. Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle, 1969 Apollo 15 Command and Service modules, 1971 Discovery liftoff, 1985 Galileo spacecraft The two GRAIL spacecraft, Ebb (right) and Flow (left). Diagram showing the Apollo Saturn V rocket with labeled stages and spacecraft modules, including the command, service, and lunar modules, at launch and during their journey to the Moon. Insets explain each module's function and configuration changes from launch to lunar travel.
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View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
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Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
All About Astronomy

spacecraft: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

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  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: PNAS - Spacecraft instrument technology and cosmochemistry. Nov 07, 2026
Add new Web site: UH Pressbooks - A Guide to CubeSat Mission and Bus Design - What? (Spacecraft Definition). Feb 21, 2026
Add new Web site: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory - Spacecraft Design Innovations in the APL Space Department (PDF). Nov 16, 2025
Add new Web site: ODU Digital Commons - Spacecraft Informatics (PDF). Sep 20, 2025
Add new Web site: NTRS - NASA - Materials for Spacecraft (PDF). Aug 07, 2025
Add new Web site: PNAS - Spacecraft instrument technology and cosmochemistry. Apr 06, 2025
Add new Web site: CiteSeerX - The Emergence of Spacecraft Autonomy (PDF). Jan 21, 2025
Add new Web site: IOPscience - Journal of Physics: Conference Series - A Spacecraft design for mars water survey. Oct 04, 2024
Add new Web site: NASA - Spacecraft Classification. Aug 08, 2024
Media added. Jun 06, 2024
New media added. Feb 04, 2021
Corrected display issue. Sep 25, 2019
Add new Web site: European Space Agency - Science and Exploration - Anatomy of a spacecraft. Sep 20, 2019
Add new Web site: Great Achievements - Spacecraft. Mar 07, 2013
Add new Web site: Great Achievements - Spacecraft. Mar 07, 2013
Add new Web site: NASA - Mars Science Laboratory - Spacecraft. Feb 07, 2013
Add new Web site: National Aeronautics and Space Administration - The Shuttle. Aug 22, 2011
Photographs of Apollo 11 lunar module and Apollo 15 command and service modules added. Mar 22, 2010
Added new Web site: NASA's Planetary Photojournal. Nov 07, 2006
Added new Web site: The Nine Planets - Phobos. Jun 08, 2006
Article revised. Feb 01, 2002
Article revised. Dec 21, 2001
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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