ORION IS LIGHTYEARS AHEAD OF APOLLO

Development of the Apollo spacecraft began in 1961 at North American Aviation, the company that built the spacecraft for Nasa. Early designs were predicated on the idea that the Apollo spacecraft would itself land on the moon.

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When Nasa switched to the idea of using a separate lunar module, a second version of the Apollo vehicle that could dock with another spacecraft was produced.

The development of the Orion spacecraft predates the Artemis programme, which began in 2017. Lockheed Martin began designing Orion for Nasa's Constellation programme in 2004. As part of Constellation, Orion was intended to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, the moon and Mars. President Barack Obama cancelled the Constellation programme in 2010, but Orion found another life in the Artemis programme.

The Apollo spacecraft was a truncated cone in shape- a cone with a blunted point. The vehicle weighed around 5805 kg without fuel, and stood 11 feet, 5 inches tall and was 12 feet, 10 inches in diameter at the base, which translated to a habitable internal volume of 366 cubic feet, enough to fit three astronauts without a toilet.