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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
“Houston, We’ve Had a Problem Here”-Apollo 13
Humanity, engineering, space science and three astronauts are tested to the limits
On April 11, 1970 Apollo 13 blasted off-headed for a landing on the Moon. On this day, April 17, 1970, the ship returned to Earth with a splashdown into the South Pacific Ocean. All three astronauts, James A. Lovell Jr., John “Jack” L. Swigert Jr. and Fred W. Haise Jr. were alive but would never return to space again.
Naming this mission “Apollo 13” seemed to be bad luck as the mission was having problems before it took off. Originally the mission was to be commanded by John Young with Charles Duke as lunar module pilot. Seven days before launch, Duke contracted rubella. Both the main crew and the backup crew were affected by this potential illness. Ken Mattingly, who had never had rubella, had to be replaced by Swigert.
The mission involved the third landing on the moon, collection of soil samples and the examination of the geology of the Moon. But the crew never landed on the moon, instead they had to focus on surviving in space.
Two days into the flight, a routine stir of the oxygen tanks on the ship ignited a fire and explosion. This released the contents of both oxygen tanks into space. Upon…
