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polIo13 "Houston,,

wevegot a

problem."

"-,/

James A. Lovell, Jr., Apollo 13 Commander. Fred W. Haise, Jr., Apollo 13 Lunar ModulePilot. John L. Swigert, Jr., Apollo 13 CommandModule Pilot.

SPACECRAFT-Hey, we've got a problemhere.. Thus, calmly, Command Module PilotJack Swigert gave the first intimation ofserious trouble for Apollo 13-200,000 milesfrom Earth.

CAPSULE COMMUNICATOR-This is Hous­tonj say again, please.

sc-Houston, we've had a problem. We'vehad a MainB bus undervolt.

By "undervolt" Swigert meant a drop inpower in one of the Command/ServiceModule's two main electrical circuits. His re­port to the ground began the most grippingepisode in man's venture into space. Onenewspaper reporter called it the mostpublic emergency and the most dramaticrescue in the history of exploration.

sc-And we had a pretty large bang asso,ciated with the caution and warning here.

Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise was nowon the voice channel from the spacecraft tothe Mission Control Center at the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration'sManned Spacecraft Center in Texas. Com­mander Jim Lovell would shortly be heard,then again Swigert-the backup crewmanwho had been thrust onto the first team onlytwo days before launch when doctors· fearedthat Tom Mattingly of the primary crewmight come down ·with German measles.

Equally cool, the men in Mission Controlacknowledged the report and began the

emergency proceduresthat grew ietoan effortby hundreds of ground controllers and thou­sands of technicians and scientists in NASA

contractor plants and on university campusesto solve the most complex and urgent prob­lem yet encountered in space flight.

sc-Jfl'e got a Main b1ls A undervolt, nOfv,too. ; . Main B is reading zip (zero) rightnow.

CAPCOM-We'd like y01l to attempt toreconnect f1lel cell 1 to Main A and f1lel cell3toMainB.

sC-Okay, H01lston ... 1 tried 10 reset,and fuel cells 1 and3 are both showing zipon Ihe flofus. .

CAPCOM-We copy.sc-Hollslon, are y01l still reading 13?CAPCOM-That's affirmative. We're still

reading yOll. We're still trying to come upwilh some good ideas here for Y01l.

sc-Let me give y01l some readings . ..01lr 06 (oxygen) eryo n1lmber 2ltJnk isreading zero-did yOll get Ihal?CAPCOM-o~ qllantity number 2 is zero.After peaking briefly just before the ban~,.

pressure in one of the two cryogenic (super­cold) oxygen tanks, back in the ServiceModule, had dropped to zero in eight sec­onds. These oxygen tanks, with the com­panion cryogenic hydrogen· tanks,· feed thethree fuel cells that generate the spacecraJrselectrical current, provide breathing oxygen,and produce water.

nauts a.nd /light controllers anxiously monitor1es during the Apollo 13 mission.

-And il looks 10 me, looking 01/t Ibe. that we are vent;'lg something. We areIg something Oflt i11to space. It's a gasIll' Jort.rrent from the remaining fuel celloed slowly.'COM-We'd like yOIl to ... pOll'erflntil YOfl gel an amperage of 10 less

than lvhatyofl've got now.-It looks like O2 tank 1 pressure is jttstover 200. .'COM-We confirm/hal.-Does it look like it's still going down?

. 'coM-Ifs gohlg slolvly to zero, andslarting to thhlk abofll Ihe LM lifeboat.-Yes, Ihats something lve're thinkingtoo.IUtl~S earlier, and only a Iittl~ moren hour after Swigert's first report ofe, had come the laconic announcement'eathlessworld::re in Mission Control we are nowg toward an alternate mission, swing­[lund the Moon and using the LunarIe power systems, because of the situ­:hat has developed. here this evening,"! digital clock above the flight cor,! ,01;howed 57 hours 11 minutes sinceI~11 :24 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.ay, April 13. Apollo 13 was 207,000from Earth and moving away at 2,100tn hour.COM-We (igltrewe'fJe gotabom 15

m;nflles worlh of power left in the CommandModlde. So lVC Ivanl yOtl to start get/;'Ig ol'erin Ihe LM and get/ing some power on Ihat.

Three days from home, the spacecraft hadelectricity for only 15 minutes under normalprocedures.

CAPcoM-We'd /ike yOH to start makingyour way over to the LM now.

sC-Fred and Jim are in the LM.

The tunnel into the Lunar Module cabinfrom the' Command Module had remainedopen after Lovell. and Haise went into theLM for a planned check on its instrumentsearlier in the evening, just before the incident.

sc-I got LM power on.CAPCOM-I have an activation procedure.

I'd /ike you 10 copy it down.Stepby step, following instructions from

the ground, Haise and Lovell powered upthe Lunar Module,which the crew had namedAquarius, and Swigert shut down Odyssey,the Command Module, apparently undam­aged, to save its batteries,'oxygen, and cool­ing water in hope they could ultimately beused for reentry and landing.

It was n~essary also to maintain the in­tegrity of alignment on the inertial guidanceplatform. It is this gyroscopic.device which"remembers" the spacecraft's position andvelocity and thus aids ip computing neces­sary course corrections to stay on the desiredtrajectory. Swigert drew on battery powerto keep. the alignment in Odyssf"j alive,

until the alignment in Aquarius could bebrought intI) correspondence with that inOdyssey. It had to be done fast, but it wasaccomplished.

LoveIl remarked later that the transfer ofalignment from Odyssey to Aquarius was thefirst big turning point Since the optical sys­tems of Aquarius are less sophisticated,. andnever intended for use in deep space navi­gation, it would have required movement ofthe entire spacecraft to get a sighting. Hadthey lost Odyssey's alignment, the only wayto get another alignment would have beento use the Sun and Moon and Earth. Thegaseous cloud which had formed around thespacecraft prevented star sightings.

These preliminaries were accomplished,and it was conceded that Apollo 13 had failedas a lunar mission. Success now would bemeasured by the outcome of the struggle,world-wide, and deep in space, to get threemen home alive. .

..-----.-.

Dressing for launch: foreground to rear, Lovell,Swigert and Haise.

Apollo 13 astronauts move out from transfer van.

J.aunchof Apollo) 3.

Even before launch,Apollo 13 provided asobering reminder that the problems anddangers of exploring space are beyond antici­pation and that engineering genius is notwit.hout limitations. Sometimes the problemsare minor in the context of Earth-ooundactivities but major for space flight. One suchprobler.1 occurred during the launch prepara­tions.

The Apoilo 13 prime crew was exposedto rubella, or German measles, while workingwith Charles M. Duke, Jr., of the backupcrew, who developed rubella the weekendbefore the scheduled launch. Examination ofthe prime crew revealed that Thomas K.Mattingly II, Command Module Pilot, hadno immunity to rubella.

A sick astronaut in space could endangerhimself and the mission. As a result, doctorstuled out Mattingly for the Apollo 13 flight.

Plans call for use of the entire backup crewwhen a member of tbe prime crew is in­capacitated. However, Duke's illness ruledthat out. Consequently, a decision was madeto substitute backupCommand Module PilotJohn L. Swigert, Jr., for Mattingly. Swigertwas found to be immune to rubella.

The last-minute change presented diffi­culties because each trio is trained as a team.In a crisis, each man has learned to rdy onhis companions' reactions. To work Swigertin, the crew engaged ina vigorous and in~tensive program simulating all Bight maneu-

vers and ensuring unquestioned i.eamwork.At 2:13 p.m. EST, Saturday, April 11,

1970, Apollo 13 and its t~am (James A:Lovell; Commander; FredW';Haise, Jr.,Lunar Module Pilot; and John L. Swigert,Command Module Pilot) were launchedfrom Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A pre­mature cut-off of one engine of the secondstage of their Saturn V launch vehicle wascompensated for by longer burr.s of the re­mainin~ engines and the engine of the thirdstage. Apollo 13 achieved Earth orbit at2:26 p.nl.EsT.

Apollo 13 and its still attached Saturn vthird stage (called the S-IVB) were thoroughlychecked while in orbit. At 3:48 p.m., the

Swigert in Odyssey d·uring color telecast ofApril 12. .

astronauts sent their first telecast from space,a five-minute program which included a de­scription of their view.of the cloud.coveredEastern United States. S-IVBwas re-ignited at4:48 p.m. EST to give Apollo 13 its finalboost toward the Moon. A check of systemsafter shutdown of the S-IVB showed that allwere operating satisfactorily.

At 5 :20 p.m. EST, Oqyssey separated fromthe adapter th'lt connected it with the S-IVB.Simultaneously, the four panels that madeup the sides of the adapter fell away, ex.posing Aquarius, the Apollo 13 Lunar Mod.ule. The Lunar Module is designed. princi­pally for landing two men on the Moon,serving as a shelter and base during the shortlunar expedition,and later returning theastronauts to the Command/Service Module,waiting in lunar orbit.

After separating Odyssey from the adapter,the astronauts moved out about 60 feet aheadof S-IVB. Then they turned Odyssey aroundand docked it nose-to-nose with Aquarius.They backed their craftand the attachedAquarius away from the S-IVB. By 6:14 p.m.,they had· freed Aquarius and turned theirthree-module spacecraft around to head forthe Moon. Most of the transposition and

.docking maneuvers were telecast live to Earthin a n·minute program that began about5:30 p.m. .

Also shown on TV was the maneuver thatsent the S-IYB ona separate path to cras~ onthe Moon as a scientific experiment, desIgnedto add to knowledge about the make-up ofthe Moon. This turned °out to be the onlysuccessful lunar experiment of Apollo 13.

The path of Apollo 13 was so true that. ascheduled course adjustment was cancelledas unnecessary. No major mission event wasschedul d until 8:54 p.m., Sunday, when ahybrid transfer was initiated. This reroutedthe craft to sweep within 70 miles of theMoon rather than the approximately 115­mile altitude of the earlier course. The changewas designed to put Aquarius in the rightplace at the right time for {he desired lunarlanding site. The hybrid transfer also meantthat Apollo 13 could return to Earth only byanothe; course adjustment. On the earlier.course, called a free return trajectory, Apollocould swing around the Moon and return toEarth without using any additional rocketpower.° The hybrid transfer, conducted for all the

world to see on TV, was so accurate that ascheduled subsequent maneuver was unnec­essary.

° Another major event on Sunday threw a.usually cool and calm astronaut into a mildpanic. In the rush to substitute for Mattingly,Swigert forgot to file his °Federal Income Taxreturn.

"How do I apply for an extension?" heasked. Amid laughter from Mission Control,be sought to explain: "Things kinda. hap­pened real fast down th~re and I need anextension. rm really serious. Would you. . :'

Joe Kerwin, the capsule communicator,was unsympathetic: "You're breaking upthe room down here."

Swigert continued: "... turn it in?"Later, Flight Director Glynn Lunney said

that American citizens out of the country gcta 6O-<layextension on filing. "I assume thisapplies," he added.

Or. Monday evening at 9:15 p.m. EST,Lovell and Haise entered the pressurizedAquarius for the first time. Among otherthings, Mission Controlwanted them to checkan .Aquarius helium tank that had shown aslightly high pressure on the Ia.unchpad.Lovell found that the pressure in the tankwas showing the kind of rise expected.

Haise remarked that ··One of the niCethings for a novice like myself is the ease ofmoving around in here."

The two spent about an hour inside ofAquarius, telecasting their activities to Earth.The show ended, and all was well.

Haise was still in Aquarius. Lovell was inthe tunnel between Aquarius and Odyssey,clutching a camera and gingerly making hisway among the TV wires. Swigert was inOdyssey. Sudo1enly, they were startled by aloud bang.

At first, LoveIi and Swigert thought thatHaise had released a valve, as planned, inAquarius. But Haise, now back in the eM,and scanning the instrument panel, saw thatone of the main electrical systems of Apollo13 was deteriorating-Just before 10:10 p.m.,Swigert radioed the words that drew mankindtogether in a common concern: "Hey; we'vegot a problem here:' .

Diagram of rite Apollo spacecraft.

Cutaway view of the Lunar Module.

Mission Control at H .plagued Apollo 1; fli:~~tonduring the problem-

enJim Lovell and FredHaise,leavingwigert to batten dowocrippled Oclys­Dved into Aquarius just before mid­Monday and began powering her up1110 13's lifeboat, the Moon still layI miles and 20 hours ahead.Guld be risky to fire the main engineCommand/Service Module, possiblyeli by an apparent rupture ofa high.'eoxygen tank. The shortest way-in time-would be to coast on aroundJOn and .then be pulled automatically'ward Earth.on the hybrid trajectory to which theuts had maneUvered Sunday eveningitateIunadanding in the FraMauroheir spacecraft would actually miss the.y :250 miles and pass on by, beyond: surVival.prime concern was to get back on aurn t~jectory that would bring them1 some ocean-'-a1most any ocean-: need for further major maneuvers.would have to be accomplished byle LM descent engine-an emergencyIre iliat, by foresight, had been pra;:­space by Apollo 9 and by the presentsimulations at Kennedy Space Center.:rt urged combining the free-returner with an extra push to speed theourney, and doing it soon to cut the1 the LM's batteries and cooling water:;CRAFT-The advantage of doing thisyon can do a big bnr11l1ow in the'se and then power the LM down.;se, we got to keep the LM powered liP,we get arotmd the Moon.light Director Glynn Lunney held off>n while trajectory planners ran ·halfalternatives through their computers.aste5t return would lead to a splash­the Pacific about noon Thursday,

the originally planned recovery arealin steaming distance of the recoveryISS Iwo Jima, But this would takeurn and leave the descent engine littlelater course adjustments that mightred.:ould be saved and the return cutdropping the Service Module to

1e dead weight that had to be maneu­uta Lunar Module engine had never:d in space to maneuver· just theld Command Modules..•\nd remov­prot..qion that the Service ModuleCommand Module heat shield mightl1e shield to damaging cold on tl.e-age hom!.

The next quickest procedure would belanding early Friday morning in the SouthAtlantic, in range of U.S. planes-but not ofships.

Mission Control chose a two~step abort: anearly short burn to reestablish free return,with potential splashdown Friday evening inthe Indian Ocean, then a longer bum soonafter looping around the Moon to speed thereturn by 10 hours and shift the target pointback to the Mid-Pacific, where th.: prime re­covery f(lrces waited.

The discussion between Spacecraft andHouston continued:

CAPSULE COMMUNICATOR~We're at thistime, water critical in theLM. We'd like toflse as lit/Ie as possible. To do this we're go•ing to make a free-return maneUVer of 16feet per second at 61 hours, which is 37 min­utes from now. Then we're going to pvwerdown Ih? PGNS (Primary GUidat1ce and Nav.igation Section), and/hen at 79 honrs we'ligo ahead and make another abort manenver/0 kick what we got.

SPACECRAFT-Could yon give lisa lit/Iemore time?

f:.ApcoM:'-Okay, Jim; We'd like to get asnggested time from yon.

sc-Let's shoot for an hour if we can.How's that?CAPCOM~Okay, Jim. How about 61 honrs

and 30 minntes? That's an hour and jivefrom now.

.,,/"

11

The Ill·Faled Space Odyssey of Apollo 13.

sc-Okay, we'll do it. And we want tomake sure we can talk back and forth now tomake sure we get this burn off right.

Getting itoff right would take not onlyaccurate timing but-accurate positioning ofthe spacecraft.

CAPcoM-And now we want to ask you aquestion about alignments, and so forth. Wewanted to know if you can see any stars outof the AOT (Alignment Optical Telescope).

sc-In this attitude/hat we're pitchinga/'ound 1 caml0t use the AOT to see stars. TheCommand Module is just radiating to& muchlight into the telescope. _

CAPCOM-HoU/ about using the ServiceModule to (aJt a shadow on the Commander'.rwindow. If you do that, can you see stars?

sc-We tried to do it. The light shinesoff'l?ur quads, u'hich makes it difficult to seesta/·j. We do hal'e the Earth and Moon, ifthat can be of assistance. Another problem:Right nOIP I'm looking out the right U'indoll'al1d iI's prelly dark out there, bllt there areabout a thel/sand or so foam stars out there­left over from Ihe debris. It's hard to discernU'hat's real a1/d what's 110t.

Ultimately, _Mission Control would comeup with a computer solution for lining up thespacecraft by sighting on the Earth, Sun, andMoon through the telescope.

The mission dock now sho",ed 61 :28:43,which was 3:42 2o.m. EST Tuesday and it wastime for tltecritical burn which would take

the spacecraft ou~ ofthe hybrid trajectory andplace it in free return.- The engine to beused for this burn was that of the DescentPropulsion System (DPS) of A<{u2orius.Theconversation went like this:

CApcoM-Aquarius, you're go for theburn.

se-Master arm's 011. One minute.se-Forty percent.CApeoM~Aquarius, you're looking good.sc-All shutdown.And a little later:cAPcoM-AqtlaritlS,check your master

arm off, please.sc-Okay, HOllston, bllrn's complete. Now

we haz'e to talk about pou'ering down.The first milestone on the journey home

had been passed.Even without another bum, the spacecraft

would return to Earth for a landing in theIndian Ocean. Emergency preparations forthe pickup would have to be completed, butthat could be done. And there still remainedin the flight rlan the second critical burnto obtain a quicker trip and landing in thePacific.

Haise stood watch, while his fellow astro­nauts tried for some fitful sleep in the chillyCommand Module--d1illy and dark becauseits power supply was cutoff. _

On the ground, -possible future maneuverswere tried out in flight simulators at Houstonand Kennedy Space Center by their fellow

" .

ronauts: disappointed Ken Mattingly,10110 14 Commander Al Shepard, LM PilotMitchell, eM Pilot Stu Roosa, Apollo 12's

: Pilot Dick Gordon, Gene Cernan ofIOUO 10, Dave Scott of Apollo 9, John·lung, Vance Brand, Ron Evans and Joegle.Maneuvers that still remained to be ex-Ited were simulated in complete detail.e big burn to get the quicker return andashdown in the Pacific was simulated:.cirig the simulated spacecraft in the correctitude, firing the Aquarius DPS engine, and!eking the results by computer. Similarly,: astronauts went through the simulatedneuvers of dropping the Lunar Module,'ppingthe Service Module and putting themmand Module into the correct attitudereentry into the atmosphere for safe

ding.Engineers in Downey, Calif., where Odys-was built, ran emergency problems

ough computers.. A team of 30 at Massa­Isettslnstitute of Technology, where the0110 ~uidance system was designed.rked through the night. Ten phone linesre kept open between Mission Control and)Om staffed with 70 LM experts at thenufacturer's plant in Bethpage, Longmd.President Nixon cancelled appointmentsI kept in touch. He was briefed by formerronauts Mike Collins of Apollo 11 and

Bill Anders of Apollo 8. He phoned Lovell'sand Haise's wives in Houston and Swigert'sparents in Denver. He drove out to the God­dard Space Flight Center, in Maryland, pri­mary switching center for NASA'S worldwidetracking and communications network

As the men in Apollo 13 experienced whatno men had undergone before, millions fol­lowed the developing drama by radio andtelevision in public squares, private homes,schooh, offices and factories. Pope Paui, at anaudience in St.Peter's Basilica for 10,000Romans and tourists, said "We cannot forgetat this moment the lot of the astronauts ofApoUo 13. We hope that at least their livescan be saved." Prolonged applause followed.Prayers were said at jerusalem's WailingWall and on the floor of Chicago's Board ofTrade.

On Tuesday, April 14, the U.S, Senateadopted a resolution which urged aU busi­nesses and communications media to pause at9 P.m., their local time, to "permit oerS6nsto'join in prayer for the safety of theastronauts."

Offers of assistance with ships to aid in. therecovery came from many nations. The Asso­ciated Press quoted the Russian news agencyTass as saying that four Sovietships weresteaming toward the splashdown area, one ofthem the Chumikan, a missile trackerequipped with a helicopter. Tass said theChumikan and fishing trawler No. 8452 were

,"

ordered to join the cargo carriersAcademician Rykachev and Novopolotskconverging on the Pacific target area.

Premier Aleksei N.Kosygin Sent a messagesaying:"I want to inform you (U.S. Gov­ernment) the Soviet Government has givenorders to all citizens and members of thearmed forces to use all necessary means torender ~ssistance in the rescue of the Ameri­can (Apollo 13) astronauts."

15

Italian press reaction was typical of world-wideconcern.

Moon from Apollo 13.

:her nations offering assistance included:e, Britain, Holland; Italy, Spain, Ger.',Brazil and Uruguay.:7:21 p.m; Tuesday, the spacecraft'8 behind the Moon, lOst contact withI, and passed 164 miles above the lunarceo .Haise and Swigert, who had neverso close and might never get closer,

:led photos like a couple of tourists. Atthe spacecraft emerged On the other side",as again picked up bytracking stations.lis conversation took place:e-Hollston, Aqllarills.PcoM.....;.Aqllarills.Houston.-The view Ollt there is fantaslk . ..(an Jee where we're znoming off.IOlIo 13 was headed homeward.)ments later the 1S-ton spent third stage=Saturn v launch vehicle crashed intofoon, as planned.xcurred at 8:09 p.m. EST, April 14.~IVB struck the Moon with a force'alent to .11 Y:r tons of TNT. It hitiIes west northwest of the site where.poUo 12 astronauts had set up theirometer. Scientists on Earth said,Moon rang like a bell. IIckin November 1969, the Apollo 121auts had sent their Lunar Module crash.nto the Moon following their return=command craft after the lunar landingon. That Lunar Module struck with aot one ton ofTNT. The shockwaves

built up to a peak in eight minutes and con.tinued for nearlyat' hour.

The seismic signals produced by the impactof S·IVB were 20 to 30 times greater and fourtimes longer !hanthose resulting from theLM crash. Peak intensity occurred in 7minutes.

The information frl)m these two artificialmoonquakes led to reconsideration oftheories proposed about. the lunar interior.Among puzzling features are the rapid build.up to the peak and the prolonged reverbera­tions. Nothing comparable happens whenobjects strike Earth.

One theory is that the signal is scatteredand repropagated in very deep rubble. An­other holds that the velocities of seismic wavesfrom these impacts are comparable to meas.urements of velocities in crystalline rock. SothecrystalIine material which the astronautsfound so abundant on the Moon's surtacemay extend very deep into the Moon.

Houston reported the lunar impact of theS-IVB to the spacecraft:

CAPCOM-B, tbe way, Aquarius, we seethe resllits now from 12's seismometer. Lookslike 10llr booster just hit the Moon, ana it'sro(king a little bit.

sC-We/l, at least sometbing :florllea· onthis fligbt. .• I'm sure glad we didn't hapean LM impa(t, too~

Time was at hand for the bum, two hoursafter closest approach to the Moon. The de.

Aquarius.points the way to distant Earth. Thevisible rocket nozzle is part of the AquariusReaction Control System,

Flight controllers view prototype of the "do-it­yourself' lithium hydroxide unit that Apollo 13astronauts constructed following directions fromthe ground. The apparatus enabled Aquarius toutilize lithium hydroxide canisters from thecrippled Odyssey.

scent engine would fire five seconds at 10percent throttle, 21 seconds at 40 percent,and nearly four minutes at full blast.

This bum would add 585 miles per hourto the velocity of the spacecraft, bringing itto Earth 10 hours sooner, and would make thetarget for splashdown a spot in the PacificOcean south of American Samoa. The carrierIwo Jima already was enroute to that pin­pointed spot.

CAPcoM-Tbree minules-collnling down.• , Mark...

sc-We're bumillg 40 percent. ..CAPCOM-Looking good at two minutes,sc-:-Two mi/mles, Rog;!r. ..CApcoM-AquarillS, you're go <11 three

minute!, •.sc-Shutdown.CAPcoM-I say that !I'as a good bum.sc-Now we u'ant to power dOti'1l as soon

as possible.q.pcoM-We bave a procedure ready. ..Aquarius had been designed as a two-man

spacecraft and, in the original flight plan,would have been used less than 60 hours.Could her consumables-oxygen, water, bat­teries-be stretched to keep three men alivenearly 90 hours, from the 10$s of CSM powerthe evening before, to just before reentry twoand a half days ahead?

After some early false alarms,the outlookby Wednesday morning was reassuring.Plenty of drinking water could be br~ught

over from the Command Module. Oxygenstores showed a margin of 95 hours. Withpower kept up only on the life~support,telemetry, and cQmmunications equipment,except during critical maneuvers, coolingwater would last 23 hours beyond reentry,batteries 60 hours-ample to recharge theCommand Module's batteries beforeseparatiori.

One item could be a problem: the car­tridges of lithium hydroxide that removecarbon dioxide from the spacecraft atmo­sphere. The LM'S cartridges would last only')0 hours, and theol'swouldn't fit the LM.

BlbSmylie and Jim Correale, of the CrewSystems Division at HOll~ton,devised amake­shift adapter, and Astronaut Tony Englandtested the design by putting one togetherfrom oral instructions alone. As Missio~

.Control voiced these up to Aquarius, SWIgertand Lovell built adapters using cardboardcue cards from unneeded lunar surface proce­dures, plastic storage bags, and adhesivetape to attach cartridges fmm the eM to LM

hoses that sucked cabin air through them.CAPcoM-The 1lext step is 10 {Ul a diag­

ol1al hole. ..sc-Okay, our do-it-y01lrselflithif(nl by­

droxide 1Inil is complete.Earth stations continued to track the space­

craft. Within four hours after the big burn,just this side of the Moon, their data wasshowing that, because the.automatic guidancesystem had drifted out ofalignment, the re-

J

.sults hadn't been as precise as nrst thou~ht.By the time Apollo 13 entered Earth's

sphere ofgravitational influence at 8:38Wednesday morning, still 216,277 milesfrom home, the data showed it would miss by99 miles and sail on in orbit forever. A big­ger midcourse correction than ever made be.fore by a r~turning Apollo lunar mission wasscheduled for near midnight. Again safetyof the crew depended on Aquarius' descentengine.

The spacecraft was positioned by sightingon the Earth and Sun, a procedure neverused previously, but one which had been de-

.veioped in studies and checked by computers,and which was rechecked while Apollo 13was enroute from the Moon to the Earth. Theengine was /ired manually. Lovell and Haise,in their normal LM piloting positions, han­dled the attitude controls. Swigert, sitting onthe ascent engir.e cover, watched the timerto signal when to start and stop the burn,and Lovell pushed the buttons. MissionControl watched the results.

CAPCOM-Ignition . .. Thrmt looks good .•. • It shutdown .. . Nice work.

sc-Let's hope it was.Ground· trackers could soon report that it

was, putting Apollo 13 comfortably withinthe reentry corridor. .

Heat from repeated firing of the descentengine had caused an increased rate of pres­sure buildup in the LM'S supercold helium

The do-it-your,,,-If unit in Aquarius to utilizelithium hydroxide canisters from the crippledOdyssey.

Jury-rigged urine disposal system. Swigen at right.

Ii

Haise sleeps in Aquarius; He restrained his hands50 that his arrnswould not /lop about in weightlessspare environment.

Lovdl sleeps in Aquarius.

Lovell's "grand oasis in the vastness of spice"beckons to the homebound travelers.

tank, used to !,rcssurize the fuel tanks but nolonger needed. Just ..fter noon the tank'~burst disc-a relief valve-ruptured, as itwas designed to do, and. the helium ventedinto space. The gas had been expected tospew out equally in opposite C:irc tions, hav­ing no propulsive effect on the spacecraft.

CAPCOM-See anytbing?sc:-Yeah, I was jllst .lboftt ready to call

yOIl. Underneath Qtlt1d 4 lnoticed a lot ofsparkliesgoing 01lt.

.CAPCOM--eall yOIl hear or fee/anything?sc-I.sure iid ... I think it changed otlr

PTC (Passive Thermal Control of the !'pace­craft by slowly rotating it to distribute theSun's heat) ..•. I was in right yaw and nowI'm in left yaw, at a milch faster rate . • • Isthat what they call anonprop1l1sive vent?

CAPcoM-Right. I'd hate to see a prop1l1­sive one.

Thermal control was soon restored by useof bursts from the control thmsters until theslow rate of rotr'ion was readjusted. Switcheswere thrown to Legin recharging the Com­mand Module's reentry batteries from theLM'S. And the astronauts of Apollo 13 wereallowed the first period of. relatively relaxedactivity since the accident.

But their physical hardships grew by thehour.

Temperatures in the darkened CM droppedto 38 degrees. Lovell and Haise pulled ontheir lunar boots, Swigert an extra suit of

long underwear. The cabin l":alls were per­spiring, the windows wet and pardy frostedover. All food was cold, for there was no hotwater in the LM to mix with the dehydratedmeals. The men dozed, always leaving oneon watch, but real sleep was rare. Deke Slay­ton, chief astronaut as Director of FlightCrew Operations, told them they could takestay-awake pills during the final hours.

At Mission Control, Gene Kranz's entireteam of flight controllers was taken off itsregular shifts to work out and rehearse space­craft separation and entry routines. Astro­nauts in the simulators proved out everymaneuver and Crew procedure. Thursdayevening Capsule Communicatc:s began hoursof reading up check lists to Swigert, thenHaise.

CAPCOM-Next verify. . ,sc~I may not. sound too clear, beca1lse

I'm holding a flashlight between my teeth.Shortly before 4 o'dock Friday morning,

Eastern Standard Time, Lovell and Haise, un­able to sleep longer, began powering. upAquarius three hours earlier than planned.The cabin warmed a bit. As they realignedthe guidance system, Swigert-watching thetime till he could begin reviving dead, coldOdyssey-wryly urged them on:

sc-That Earth is whistling in like afreight train.. A final course correction with the LM'S

sma,lLreaction-control jets at 7:53 put the

,

The crippled Service Module· drifts away from the.. Command. Module after jettison. .

. , &rvi~e Module just after jettison shows itsseriously damaged side to astronauts.

Separation of the never·Bown-before CommandModule/Lunar Module configuration from thecrippled Service Module.

spacecraft exactly in the center of the corri.dor inwhich it should enter the atmosphere.

CAPCOM-You can jettison the ServiceModule when yOtl are ready. No big rnsh,butany time.

As Aquarius, leading the train of linkedmodules, pushed gently backward, Swigertfired small explosive devices·to sever the ~Mfrom the CM. Aquarius then pulled forwardto complete the separation. The useless Serv­ice Module drifted away from the other two,still joined in a configuration never ·f1ownbefore or practiced in the simulators beforethe flight. .

The three crewmen w·.tched from separatewindows and took photographs that mighthelp tell what had happened at therdomentwhen near.disaster struck 82 hours and nearlyhalf a million miles ago.

sC-Okay, I've got her.CAPcoM-Beautiflll, beautiful. .sc-And there's one whole side of that

spacecraft missing. .. Right by the high­gain antenna the whole panelis blown out.almost from the base to the engine. .. It.'sredily It mess.

CAPCOM-Take pictures, but don't makeany unnecessary maneuvers.

sc-Man, tha.t's unbelievable-looks like It

lotof debris is jnst hanging out of the sidenear the S.band antenna.

As lIaise began shutting down the .LM,

this exchange took place between Mission

Control and Lovell, tJ'le world's most experi­enced man in space andveteran of fourflights:

sc-Well, I can't S4Y that this week hasn'tbeen filled with excitement.

CApcoM-:'Well, James, if you can't takeany better care of the spacecraft than that,we might not give you another one.

Time approached to abandon the Apollo13 lifeboat. Lovell and Haise joined SWIgertin the Commnd Module, now fully poweredby its own batteries.

sc-We're ready to proceed with hatchcloseup.

CAPCOM-Did Jim get the film out ofAquarius?

sc-Y Otl mean the film we took this morn­ing? Yes, we tramferred thd/.

Since the CM'S jets can control only itsattitude, not push or pull, separation wouldbe accomplished byliring pyrotechnics to cutLM loose and simply letting pressure in theclosed tullnel between the modulespush themapart.

sc---Can I proceed 0;1 and kind of punchoff early? .

CApcoM-Iade,when y01l are comfortabiyready to punch off, you can go ahead and-doit.

At 11:23 Swigert punched the button.SC-LM jettison.CApcoM-Farewell, Aquarins, and :Ue

thank you.

,

t'paration sequence of Aquarius andOdyssey>rior to reentry.

watched the charredspacecraft drift downthrough broken douds to a splashdown inmoderate seas four miles from the ship at1:08 p.m., 142 hours 54 minutes 4r secondsafter launch.

Swimmers jumped from a helicopter, at.tached a flotation collar and rubber rafts, ando~':d the hatch. FlOmthe rafts the astru­nauts, in turn, were hoisted in a basket,shaped like half a bird cage, to the recoveryhelicopter. .

RECOVERY-[ have AJtronaut Raiseaboard, and his condition is ex.cellent..•

Odyssey drifts down thmugh .c1oudy skies.

sc-She sllre was a great ship.The flimsy Aquarius, unshielded for re­

turn to Earth, would burn up inthe atmos­phere.

Six hundred miles southeast ofSamoa thecarrier USS Iwo Jima awaited Odyssey. Res­cue planes patrolled a bath-tub shaped ex- ,panseof bluePacinc390mileswide and stretch­ing 460 miles uprange and 115 downrange otthe target point. The spacecraft's speed rosedramatically as it a'lgled Earthward above theIndian Ocean and across southern Australia:22,085 feetper second ... 25,693 ...31,141 ... 34,333 ... 35,837-more than24,000 miles an hour--'-just before the plungeinto the atmosphere at 400,000 feet.

CAPcoM-We've illst had one last timearollnd the room and ever/body says YOII'relooking great.

sc-Thank YOIl.For three long minutes no word was heard

from the spacecraft as friction with the airraised the heat shield to a nery glow thatblacked out radio communication.

Then:CAPCOM-Ddyssey •.. Standing by.sc-Dkay ..•CAPCOM-Dkay, we read you, !a(k;SC-We got two drogues.Odyssey's two small parachutes pulled out

its three 85-foot ora.nge-and-whitemainchutes. Through color TV cameras aboard theIwo Jima and in a photo helicopter, the world

Officials join /light controllers in monitoringApollo 13 Bight. From left: Thomas H. McMuUen.Assistant Mission Director; Dale D. Myers, Asso­oate Administrator, Office of Manned Space Flight;Chester M..Lee, Mission Director; and Dr. RoccoPetrone, AvolIo Program Director;

.--",=--

I

lown in the Pacific Oc~an. APollo 13 astronauts wait in life raft for pick upby helicopter.

/

Mission Control afier astronauts are safe on therecovery ship. Lovell. on screen. welcomed by thecrew of primary recovery vessel. the USS Iwo Jima.

'e A$trondOf Swigert on bOttrd. He1s he feels fine. .. 1have Captain Lovell'd., H~ reports he feels fine.rty.five minutes from splashdown-theit recovery ever-they were safe on Iwos red-carpeted deck. Microphones hadset up. The admiral and the captain~. The ship's chaplain prayed. A bandd. But Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, anrlHaise were too tired for public spe~ches.

om the Bight deck of the Iwo Jima torican Samoa, to Hawaiiandon to H~us­the crew of Apollo 13 travelled on a'of applause. President Nixon presenteddedal of Freedom to the three astro-: and to Sigurd A. Sjoberg, Director ofIt Operations, and to Flight Directorsn S. Lunney, Eugene F. Kranz, Geraldin, and Milton L. Windler.Ie President of the United States sum­~ed the reaction of many when he said,. three astronauts did not reach the1, but they reached the hearts of millionsople in America and in the world.":tion had turned to fact in the flight ofsey arid Aquarius. The tension, the7, and the relief were undentated by.oveIl: "We do not realize what we haveIrth until we leave it."t all expressed confidence in America'slIttl of space exploration and planned.. learn from our mistakes and get onnejob." .

Presi<{ent Nixon awards Presidential Medal ofFreedom to flight directors who helped bringApollo 13 safely home. Left to right: Flight Direc'tors Glynn S.· Lunney. Eugene. F. Kranz. GeraldGriffin and Milton LWindler; Director of FlightOperations Sigurd A. Sjoberg. Seated at left areMrs. Nixon and Dr. Thomas O. Paine. NASAAdministrator.

The astronauts and President Nixon, after cere- .monies in which they w.,,-e awarded the PresidentialMedal of Freedom. Lehto right: Haise. Lovell.the Presidentand Swigert.

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EP·76ProcIu<:cd by the 0lIic:e .of Public: MairsNational Aeronautics and Space AdminlstrationWaablngton. D.C, 20546 .

For sale by !be SUllcdntondent of Documents.U.s. Go.ernment Printing Office;WasIllnstoo. D.C. 20402-Pric:e 75 cents*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1970 384-459.