Why does the command and service module stay in orbit?
The Command/ Service module package were not designed for a landing on the moon. The Command and Service modules of the Apollo spacecraft were used primarily to transport the Lunar excusion module and the astronauts to the moon, and transport the astronauts back to Earth. The Command module was specifically designed to re-enter earth’s atomosphere. The total package was one concept of several in designing spacecraft to go to the moon. Others included “direct assent” in which the same spacecraft would take off from earth land on the moon and return to earth, more or less intact. Ultimately, the design used was deemed the most “doable” and (no suprise here) least expensive to build and operate.
