The Crew Module (CM) is essential equipment when humans want to live and work in outer space. There have been many designs in the past few decades, Most CMs are capsules that utilize a heat shield to come back from space. Many other designs were meant to remain in space and refurbished to be reused many times (Image 1).
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| Image 1: Crew Module design from the 1970s |
CMs were also designed to be mounted on a mobile platform (Image 2). This would have allowed crews to reach other destinations operating for a space station base.
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| Image 2: Early Crew Module design |
The CM was also designed to fit inside the new Space Shuttle that was in development at the time. This is the reason most (if not all) CMs are cylindrical in shape (Image 3).
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| Image 3: A Boeing design from 1972. |
The CMs would have been attached to a rocket so that the crew could travel to destinations such as errant satellites and space stations.
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