-
- To save this word, you'll need to log in.
command module
noun
: a space vehicle module designed to carry the crew, the chief communication equipment, and the equipment for reentry
Examples of command module in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Astronauts only used the lunar module for transport between the moon and the orbiting command module.
—Kim Breen, USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2024
Backup command module pilot Jack Swigert replaced Mattingly.
—Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2023
On the third day of the mission, an onboard explosion knocked out power and oxygen in the command module.
—Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 7 Nov. 2023
From left, command module pilot James Lovell, lunar module pilot William Anders, and Commander Frank Borman.
—Jordan Freiman, CBS News, 9 Nov. 2023
Roosa was the command module pilot on NASA’s Apollo 14 mission, responsible for circling the moon alone while Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell cavorted on the lunar surface below.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2023
Lovell’s husband, Jim, was the command module pilot of Apollo 8, which in 1968 orbited the moon.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2023
From the first tentative 120-foot flight of the Wrights’ aircraft to the Apollo 11 command module Columbia that traveled a total of 953,054 miles on its moon voyage, the National Air and Space Museum embodies our innate desire to learn, to experiment and to explore.
—Lonnie G. Bunch Iii, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Sep. 2022
The power-up was required to get the command module ready to bring the astronauts through the last leg of the mission, through the atmosphere to a splashdown.
—Elizabeth Howell, Forbes, 31 July 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'command module.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1962, in the meaning defined above
Articles Related to command module
Dictionary Entries Near command module
Cite this Entry
“Command module.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/command%20module. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
command module
noun
: part of a space vehicle designed to carry the crew, the chief communications equipment, and the equipment for return to Earth's atmosphere
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share