April 17, 1970 — The lunar and service modules had been jettisoned between Fiji and New Zealand; the three crew of Apollo 13 were barreling back to earth in the command module. After a mission rife with uncertainty, malfunction and extreme danger, the extended communications blackout during reentry had many on edge. Still, the three parachutes successfully deployed and brought the astronauts down safely in the south Pacific Ocean. There, they would be picked up by the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that has since been decommissioned.
Just under six days earlier, the crew had embarked upon a mission to land on the moon. They blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, and almost 56 hours into the mission the astronauts would begin to encounter some serious problems. One of the oxygen tanks exploded inside Apollo 13, which they described as a “pretty large bang.” They lost two fuel cells as the cells were dependent on that oxygen supply. These problems began to cascade into other, more complex problems and things were growing worse by the minute.
“Okay, Houston, — I believe we’ve had a problem here.” The phrase became famous as the crew had no choice but to cut their losses, cancel the moon mission and focus all their faculties on getting home alive.
You've reached your daily free article limit.
Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.
April 17, 1970 — The lunar and service modules had been jettisoned between Fiji and New Zealand; the three crew of Apollo 13 were barreling back to earth in the command module. After a mission rife with uncertainty, malfunction and extreme danger, the extended communications blackout during reentry had many on edge. Still, the three parachutes successfully deployed and brought the astronauts down safely in the south Pacific Ocean. There, they would be picked up by the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that has since been decommissioned.
Just under six days earlier, the crew had embarked upon a mission to land on the moon. They blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, and almost 56 hours into the mission the astronauts would begin to encounter some serious problems. One of the oxygen tanks exploded inside Apollo 13, which they described as a “pretty large bang.” They lost two fuel cells as the cells were dependent on that oxygen supply. These problems began to cascade into other, more complex problems and things were growing worse by the minute.
“Okay, Houston, — I believe we’ve had a problem here.” The phrase became famous as the crew had no choice but to cut their losses, cancel the moon mission and focus all their faculties on getting home alive.
The crew had to improvise — in short, they were able to use the moon’s gravity to swing around and propel them back home. This brought them incredibly close to their destination, and yet they were unable to land there. Because of their route, called a “free-return trajectory,” and the distance of the moon from the earth at the time, the astronauts of Apollo 13 hold the record of the greatest distance human beings have been from the earth.
Despite the great odds against them, all three astronauts returned safely to our world on April 17, 1970.
The crew was made up of three astronauts. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell, a Navy pilot that had flown McDonnell F2H Banshees and McDonnell F3H Demons. Jack Swigert had come from the Air Force as a fighter pilot, and had also served in the Connecticut Air National Guard before joining NASA, where he would become the Command Module Pilot. Fred Haise, the Lunar Module Pilot, hailed from the Marine Corps where he was also a fighter pilot.
Featured image courtesy of NASA.
Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.
TRY 14 DAYS FREEAlready a subscriber? Log In
COMMENTS
You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.