“Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon, and returned safely to Earth on April 17. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell with Jack Swigert as command module (CM) pilot and Fred Haise as lunar module (LM) pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella…”
I was 7 years old at the time. I recall it fairly well, as my dad was watching the news about it often, and I remember their re-entry, which had us all holding our breath. Quite an amazing feat bringing those men home.
Posts: 5248 | Location: WI | Registered: July 02, 2006
It was the LEM that saved their lives. Designed to land and leave the moon. Instead went on a much longer journey in space. A true epic.
-.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.- It only stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.
Ayn Rand
"He gains votes ever and anew by taking money from everybody and giving it to a few, while explaining that every penny was extracted from the few to be giving to the many."
Yeah, I was glued to the TV during the updates. An amazing outcome considering the damage. If you haven't watched the movie 'Apollo 13', I highly recommend it.
Jim
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"If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning" -Catherine Aird
Posts: 9791 | Location: The right side of Washington State | Registered: September 14, 2008
“Newly-revealed enhanced images show life aboard the stricken Apollo 13 spacecraft, exactly 50 years after the mission failed to land on the Moon, but performed a miraculous return to Earth.
Image enhancement techniques, including stacking multiple frames on top of each other to improve the image's detail, show the clearest ever account of the mission, widely known for the words 'Houston, we have a problem'.
The still images are taken from low quality 16mm moving film shot by the three crew members – Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert – by British image specialist Andy Saunders.”
Apollo in real time has been running in the background since i started it. The images and photos and videos of news conferences is amazing and a nice distraction. I have come to appreciate the cool, calm, calculated steps that were taken. At no time was there panic, just working the problem. The audio of passing up instructions for the CO2 scrubbers today was great.
I do disagree with Deke Slayton who said that Lovell's Apollo 8 experience wasn't a big deal in the mission's "success".
