The Apollo Lunar Module was the spacecraft that carried two astronauts from orbit around the Moon down to its surface and back up again. Standing on its landing legs, it measured about 9.4 meters (31 feet) across, from the footpad of one leg to the footpad of the leg opposite. It was 7.0 meters (22 feet 11 inches) tall. The first one to land on the Moon, Apollo 11's Eagle, touched down on July 20, 1969.

Size

The size shown is the lunar module's widest span, across its landing legs. NASA's record of the Apollo 11 lunar module gives 9.4 meters between the ends of the footpads on opposite legs. Its builder, the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, lists 31 feet diagonally across the extended landing gear.

The four legs stuck out from the front, back and both sides. For the launch from Earth they were folded in to make the spacecraft smaller. The commander extended them with a switch while in lunar orbit, before the lunar module separated from the command and service modules, the part of the spacecraft that stayed in orbit.

The body was much smaller than the span of the legs. Its lower half was an eight-sided box 4.2 meters (13.8 feet) across, and the legs held the bottom of that box 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) above the ground. Eagle weighed 15,103 kilograms (33,300 pounds) including its propellant, and about 70% of that was propellant for its engines.

Size comparisons

• At 7.0 meters tall, the lunar module was about four times the height of a person 1.7 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall.
• Its 9.4-meter span would almost cross a doubles tennis court from sideline to sideline, a distance of 10.97 meters (36 feet).
• The saguaro cactus in the explorer, 6 meters (20 feet) tall, is about 1 meter shorter than the lunar module.
• The crew cabin had 160 cubic feet (4.5 cubic meters) of room for the two astronauts. That is the space inside a cube 1.65 meters (5 feet 5 inches) on each side, a little less than the height of a person.

Two stages

The lunar module was built in two parts, called stages. The lower descent stage held the landing engine, its fuel, and storage for equipment and experiments. On Apollo 15, 16 and 17, it also carried the Lunar Roving Vehicle.

The upper ascent stage held the crew cabin, with a hatch at the front and a docking hatch on top. There were no seats. The floor where the astronauts stood measured about 0.9 by 1.4 meters (36 by 55 inches), and Velcro on their boots held them to it when they were weightless.

To leave the Moon, the ascent stage fired its own engine and lifted off, using the descent stage as a launch platform. The descent stage stayed on the Moon, and the ascent stage flew up to dock with the command and service modules in orbit.

Where the lunar modules are now

Eagle's ascent stage was cast off into lunar orbit after its crew had moved back into the command module. What happened to it next is not known. NASA's record assumes that it crashed onto the Moon within the following one to four months.

One lunar module that never flew can be seen on Earth. LM-2 was built for a second uncrewed test flight in Earth orbit, but the first test went so well that the second was not needed. It was used for ground tests, then modified to look like Eagle. As of 2026, it is on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Sources

• Apollo 11 Lunar Module / EASEP. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive.
• Apollo News Reference: Lunar Module. Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, via the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.
• Lunar Module LM-2. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
• Rules of Tennis 2026. International Tennis Federation, 2026.