Why NASA Built Two Versions of the Apollo Command Module

The Apollo program is often considered to be the pinnacle of human ingenuity and engineering. With the fast pace of NASA’s development from Kennedy’s 1961 pledge to Neil Armstrong walking on the surface in 1969, we also look at it as a brilliant example of organization and planning. But it wasn’t as smooth as it seemed. Indecision on basic mission elements led to late changes that not only risked upsetting schedules, it also created duplication in one of the most visible parts of the program. North American Aviation, the contractor behind the Apollo command-service module, built two versions in tandem. This duplication had less to do with going to the Moon than with organizational decisions and heritage from the earliest spaceflight choices.

Apollo 17’s command-service module in orbit around the Moon in 1972. NASA.

Path of Least Resistance

NASA was created in 1958 as a reaction to the Soviet Union launching Sputnik, the 184-pound satellite that proved the Soviets were more technologically advanced than America had thought. With space suddenly a looming battleground in the building Cold War, President Eisenhower…