This Collection of Photographs, Descriptions, and Portions of Dialog Between the Astronauts and Mission Control

Home , Fred Haise, Gene Cernan, Glynn Lunney, Jack Swigert, Jim Lovell, Ken Mattingly

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 059 040 SE 013 150 TITLE Apollo 13, Houston, We've Got a Problem. INSTITUTION National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO NASA-EP-76 PUB DATE 70 NOTE 28p. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 ($0.75 1970-384-459) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS *Aerospace Education; *Aerospace Technology; Instructional Materials; Lunar Research; Photographs; Resource Materials IDENTIFIERS NASA; *Space Sciences

ABSTRACT The dramatic events of Apollo 13 are summarized in this collection of photographs, descriptions, and portions of dialog between the astronauts and Mission Control. What was planned as the third manned lunar landing resulted in a perilous rescue with the lunar module serving as a lifeboat to supply necessary power after an explosion disabled the command module over 200,000 miles out from Earth. (PR) 41111 - 7.

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%. oHody `UOISTIOR aA63Ari 66.ulaigoid John L. Swigert, Jr., Apollo 13 Command James A. Lov:..1i, Jr., Apollo 13 Commander. Fred W. Haise, Jr., Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot. Module Pilot.

SPACECRAFTHey, we've got a problem emergency procedures that grew into an effort here. by hundreds of ground controllers and thou- Thus, calmly, Command Module Pilot sands of technicians and scientists in NASA Jack Swigert gave the first intimation of contractor plants and on university campuses serious trouble for Apollo 13-200,000 miles to solve the most complex and urgent prob- from Earth. lem yet encountered in space flight. CAP:Ur E COMMUNICATORThis ir Hous- sc gnidMain bus A undervoli, now, ton; say again, please. too, ..MainBis reading zip (zero) right scHousion, we've had a problem, We've .)1011'. had a Main B bUS undervolt. CAPCOMlreV like you to attempt to By "undervolt" Swigert meant a drop in reconnect inel cell 1 ,o Main A and fuel cell power in one of the Command/Service 3 to Main B. Module's two main electrical circuits, His re- SCOkay. Houston . I tried to reset, port to the ground 1:,,gan the most gripping and fuel cells 1 and 3 are both showing zip episode in man's venture into space. One on the flows. newspaper ,.eporter called it the most CAPCOMIre ropy. public emergency and the most dramatic sCHonston, are you still reading 13? rescue in the history of exploration. CAPCOMThair affirmative. We're still scAnd we had a pretty large bang asso- reading yogi. We're still trying to come up ciated with the caution aud warning here. u4th some good ideas here for you. Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise was now scLet me give you some readings .. . on the voice channel from thespacecraft to Our 0, (oxygen) cryo number 2 tank is the Mission Control Center at the National reading zerodid you get that? Aeronautics and Space Administration's CAP,DM-04 quantity number 2 is zero. Manned Spacecraft Center in Texa7,. Com- After peaking briefly just before the bang, mander Jim Lovell would shortly be heard, pressure in one of the two cryogenic (super- then again Swigertthe backup crewman cold) oxygen tanks, back in the Service who had been thrust onto the first team only Module, had dropped to zero in eight sec- two days before launch when doctorsfeared onds. These oxygen ti.nks, with the com- that Tom Mattingly of die primary crew panion cryogenic hydrogen tanks, feed the might come down with German measles, thrc,fuel cells that generate the spacecraft's Equally cool, the men in Mission Control electrical current, provklc breathing oxygen, acknowledged the report and began the and produce water. 4 71 Astronauts and flight controllers anxiously monitor consoles during the Apollo 13 mission,

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scAnd 1, le(4., to me, looking out the minutes worth of power le f t in the Command until the alignment in Aquarius could be hatch, that we are venting .comething. We are Module. So we want you to start gelling over brought into correspondence with that in venting sonnuhhig ont into spa-e. It's a gas in the I.1\1 and getting some power 0 17 that, Odyssey. It had to be done fast, but it was of some sort, Three days from home, the spacecraft had accomplished. Current from the remaining fuel cell electricity for only 15 minutes under normal Lovell remarked later that the transfer of dropped slowly. prxedures. alignnmit from Odyssey to Aquarius was the first big turning point. Since the optical sys- CAPCOM re'd like you to . . . power CAPCOM-117e'd like you to start making down until you get an awperage of 10 less your way over to the LM now. tems of Aquarius are less sophisticated,and ainps than what you've got now. scFred awl Jim are in the LM. never intended for use in deep spacenavi- sc---It looks like 0, tan/ I presswe is The tunnel into the Lunar Module :abin ;ation, it would have required movement of a hair over 200, from the Command Module had remained the entire spacecraft to get a sighting. Had CAPCON1----Wie confirm that, open after Lovell and Haise went intothe they lost Odyssey's alignment, the only .way sc-----Does it look like it's st11 going doWn ? LM for a planned check on its instruments to get another alignment would have been cf1 going sloulv to zero, and earlier in the evening, just before the incident, to use the Sun and Moon and Earth. The we're start;ng to think about the Lm lifeboat, scI got LM power on. gaseous cloud which hid formedaround the scY es, that's something u,u're thinking CAPCOMI have an activation procedure. spacecraft prevented star sightings. about too, I'd like you to copy it down. These preliminaries were accomplished, Mint,tes earlier, and only a little more Step by step, following instructions from and it was conceded that Apollo 1 3 had failed than an hour after Swigert's first report of the ground, Haise and Lovell powered up as a lunar mission. Success nowwould be trouble, had come the laconic announcement the Lunar Module,which the crew had named measured by the outcome of the struggle, to a breathless world: Aquarius, and Swigert shut down Odyssey, world-wide, and deep in space, to get three -Here in Mission Control we are now the Command Modul, apparently undam- men home alive. !Joking toward an alternate mission, swing- aged, to save its batteries, oxygen, and cooling around the Moon and usingthe Lunar ing water in hope thcy could ultimately be Module power systems, because of the situ- used for reentry and landing. ation that has developed here this evening." It was lecessary also to maintain the in- The digital clock above the flight control tegrity of alignment on the inertial guirl.mce team showed 97 hours1 1 minutes since platform. It is this gyroscopic device which launch- 1:24 p.m. Fastern Standard Time, "remembers" the spacecraft's positior and Monday, April 13. Apollo 1 3 207.000 velocity and thus aids in computing neces- miles from Earth and moving co-ay at 2.1:,0 sary course corrections to stay on thedesired miles an hour. trajectory. Swigert drew on battery power (-Arc:cmre figare we'te got about 15 to keep the alignment in Odyssey alive, 5 t Dressing for launch: foreground to rear, Lovell, Apollo 13 astronauts move out from transfer van. Swigert and Haise. Launch of Apollo 13.

Even before launch, Apollo 13 provided a vers and ensuring unquestioned teamwork. sobering reminder that the problems and At 2:13 p.m. EST, Saturday, April 11, dangers of exploring space are beyond antici- 1970, Apollo 13 and its team (James A. pation and that engineering genius is not Lovell, Commander; Fred W. Haise, Jr., without limitations, Sometimes the problems Lunar Module Pi!ot; and John L. Swigert, are minor in the context of Earth-bound Command Module Pilot) were launched activities but major for space flight. One such from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, A pre- problem occurred during the launch prepara- mature cut-off of one engine of the second tions. stage of their Saturn V launch vehicle was The Apollo 13 prime crew was exposed compensated for by longer burns of the re- to rubella, or German measles, while working maining engitrs and the engine of the third with Charles M. Duke, Jr., of the backup stage. Apollo 13 achieved Earth orbit at crew, who developed rubella the weekend 2:26 p.m. EST. before the scheduled launch. Examination of Apollo 13 and its still attached Saturn V the prime crew revealed that Thomas K. third stage (called the s-IvB) were thoroughly Mattingly II, Command Module Pilot, had checked while in orbit. At 3:48 p.m., the no immunity to rubella. A sick astronaut in space could endanger himself and the mission. As a result, doctors 'ruled out Mattingly for the Apollo 13 flight. Plans call for use of the entire backup crew when a member of the prime crew is in- capacitated. However, Duke's illness ruled that out. Conseguently, a decision was made to substitute backup Command Module Pilot John L. Swigert, Jr., for Mattingly. Swigert was found to be immune to rubella. The last-mir ute change presented diffi- culties because each trio is trained as a team. In a crisis, each man has learned to rely on his companions' reactions. To work Swigert in, the crew engaged in a vigorous and in- tensive program simulating all flight maneu- .

Swigert in Odyssey during color telecast of April 12.

astronauts sent their first telecast from space, Another major event on Sunday threw a a five-minute program which included a de- usually cool and calm astronaut into a mild scription of their view of the cloud-covered panic. In the rush to substitute for Mattingly, Eastern United States. S-IVB was re-ignited at Swigert forgot to file his Federal Income Tax 4:48 p.m. EST to give Apollo 13 its final return. boost toward the Moon. A check of systems "How do I apply for an extension ?" he after shutdown of the s-Ivn showed that all asked. Amid laughter from Mission Control, were operating satisfactorily. he sought to explain: "Things kinda hap- At 5:20 p.m. EST, Odyssey separated from pened real fast down there and I need an the adapter that connected it with the S-IVB. extension. I'm really serious. Would you..." Simultaneously, the four panels that made Joe Kerwin, the capsule communicator, up the sides of the adapter fell away, ex- was unsympathetic: "You're breaking up posing Aquarius, the Apollo 13 Lunar Mod- the room down here." ule. The Lunar Module is designed princi- Swigert continued: "... turnit in?" pally for landing two men on the Moon, Later, Flight Director Glynn Lunney said serving as a shelter and base during the short that American citizens out of the country get lunar expedition, and later returning the a 60-day extension on filing. "I assume this astronauts to the Command/Service Module, applies," he added. waiting in lunar orbit. On Monday evening at 9:15 p.m. EST, After separating Odyssey from the adapter, Lovell and Haise entered the pressurized the astronauts moved out about 60 feet ahead Aquarius for the first time. Among other of S-IVB. Then they turned Odyssey around things, Mission Control wanted them to check and docked it nose-to-nose with Aquarius. an Aquarius helium tank that had shown a They backed their craft and the attached slightly high pressure on the launch pad. Aquarius away from the S-IVB. By 6:14 p.m., Lovell found that the pressure in the tank they had freed Aquarius and turned their was showing the kind of rise expected. three-module spacecraft around to head for Haise remarked that "One of the nice the Moon. Most of the transpositicn and things for a novice lik myself is the ease of docking maneuvers were telecast live to Earth moving around in here." in a 72-minute program that began about The two spent about an hour inside of 5:30 p.m. Aquarius, telecastilig their activities to Earth. Also shown on TV was the maneuver that The show ended, and all was well. sent the S-IVB on a separate path to crash on Haise was still in Aquarius. Lovell was in the Moon as a scientific experiment, designed the tunnel between Aquarius and Odyssey, to add to knowledge about the make-upof clutching a camera and gingerly making his the Moon. This turned out to be the only way among the TV wireSwigert was in successful lunar experiment of Apollo 13. Odyssey. Suddenly, they were st- rtled by a The path of Apollo 13 was so true that a loud bang. scheduled course adjustment was cancelled At first, Lovell aral Swigert thought that as unnecessary. No major mission event was liaise had released a valve, as planned, in scheduled until 8:54 p.m., Sunday, when a Aquarius. But Hair, now back in the cm, hybrid transfer was initiated. This rerouted and scanning the instrument panel, saw that the craft to sweep within 70 miles of the one of the main elm lical systems of Apollo Moon rather than the approximately 115- 13 was deteriorating. Just before 10:10 p.m., mile altitude of the earlier course. The change Swigert radioed the word that drew mankind was designed to put Aquarius in theright together in a common co cern: "Hey, we've place at the right time for the desired lunar got a problem here." landing site. The hybrid transfer also meant that Apollo 13 could return to Earth only by another course adjustment. On the earlier course, called a free return trajectory,Apollo could swing around the Moon and return to Earth without using any additional rocket power. The hybrid transfer, conducted for all the world to see on iv, was so accurate that a scheduled subsequent maneuver was unnecessary. e 8 !

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12 C. I When Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, leaving The next quickest proceduie would be Jack Swigert to batten down crippled Odys- landing early Friday morning in the South sey, moved into Aquarius just before mid- Atlantic, in range of U.S. planesbut not of night Monday and began powering her up ships. as Apollo 13's lifeboat, the Moon still lay Mission Control chose a two-step abort: an 50,000 miles and 20 hours ahead. early short bum to reestablish free return, It would be risky to fire the main engine with potential splashdown Friday evening in of the Command/Service Module, possibly the Indian Ocean, then a longer burn soon damaged by an apparent rupture of a high- after looping around the Moon to speed the pressure oxygen tank. The shortest way return by 10 hours and shift the target point homein timewould be to coast on around back to the Mid-Pacific, where the prime re- the Moon and then be pulled automatically covery forces waited. back toward Earth. The discussion between Spacecraft and But on the hybrid trajectory to which the Houston continued: astronauts had maneuvered Sunday evening CAPSULE commuNrcAToaTre're at this to facilitate lunar landing in the Fra Mauro time, water critical in the LM. We'd like to Hills, their spacecraft would actually miss the use els little as possible.To do this we're go- Earth by 250 miles and pass on by, beyond ing to make a free-retien maneuver of 16 hope of survival. feet per second at 61 hours, which is 37 min- So a prime concern was to get back on a utes from now. Then we're going to power free-return trajectory that would bring them down the PGNS (Primary Guidance and Nav- down in some oceanalmost any ocean igation Section), and then at 79 hours we'll without need for further major maneuvers. go ahead and make another abort maneuver This would have to be accomplished by to kick what we got. firing the LM descent enginean emergency SPACECRAFTCould you give us a little procedure that, by foresight, had been prac- more time? ticed in space by Apollo 9 and by the present CAPCOMOkay, Jim. We'd like to get a crew in simulations atKennedy Space Center. suggested time from you. Swigert urged combining the free-return scLet's shoot for an hour if we can. maneuver with an extrapush to speed the How's that? return journey, and doing it soon to cutthe CAPCOMOkay, Jim. How about 61 hours drain on the ut's batteries and cooling water: and 30 minutes? That's an hour and five spAcEcaAPTThe advantage of doing this from now. early is you can do a big burn now in the midcourse and then power the LM down. Otherwise, we got to keep the LM powered up clear till we get around the Moon. But Flight Director Glynn Lunneyheld off a decision whiletrajectory planners ran half a dozen alternatives throughtheir computers. The fastest return would lead to a splashdown in the Pacific about noon Thursday, west of the originally planned recovery area but within steaming distance of the recovery carrier USS Iwo Jima. But this would take a long bum and leave thedescent engine little fuel for later course adjustments that might be required. Fuel could be saved and the return cut short by dropping the ServiceModule to reduce the dead weight that had to be maneuvered. But a Lunar Module engine had never been used in space to Maneuver just the Lunar and Command Modules. And remov- ing the protection that the Service Module gave the Command Module heat shieldmight expose the shield to damaging cold onthe long voyage home. 13 The 111-Fated Space Odyssey of Apollo 13.

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SCOkay, we'll do it. And we want to the spacecraft out of the hybrid trajectory and make sure we can talk back and forth now to place it in free return. The engine to be make sure we gel this burn off right. used for this burn was that of the Descent Getting it off right would take not only Propulsion System (oPs) of Aquarius. The accurate timing but accurate positioningof conversation went like this: the spacecraft. CAPCOMAquarius, you're go for the CAPCOMAndnow we want to ask you a burn. question about alignments, and so forth. 1Ve scMaster arm's on. One minute. wanted to know if you can see any stars out scForty percent. of the AOT (Alignment OpticalTelescope). CAPCOMAquarius, you're looking good. SC-1n this attitude that we're pitching scAll shut down. around I cannot use the AOT to see stars. The And a little later: Command Module is just radiating too much CAPCOMAquarius, check your master light into the tdescope. arm off, please. CAPCOMHow about using the Service SCOkay, Houston, burn's 'complete. Now Module to cast a shadow on the Commander's we have to talk about poweringdown. window. If you do that, can you see stars? The first milestone on the journey home scWe tried to do it. The light shines had been pa ised. off our quads, which makes it difficult to see Even without another burn, the spacecraft stars. We do have the Earthand Noon, if would return to Earth for a landing in the that can he of assistance. Another -,roblem: Indian Ocean. Emergency preparations for Right now I'm looking out the right window the pickup would have to be completed, but and it's pretty dark out there, but there are that could be done. And there still remained about a thousand or so foam stars out there ir ihe flight plan the second critical burn left over from the debris. It's hard to discern to obtain a quicker trip and landingin the what's real and what's not. Pacific. Ultimately, Mission Control would come Haise stood watch, while his fellow astro- up with a computersolution for lining up the nauts tried for some fitful sleep in the chilly spacecraft by sighting on the Earth, Sun, and Command Modulechilly and dark because Moon through the telescope. its power supply was cut off. The mission clock now showed 61:28:43, On the ground, possible future maneuvers which was 3:42 a.m. EST Tuesday and it was were tried out in flight simulators at Houston time for the critical burn which would take and Kennedy Space Center by their fellow 14 8 6

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astronauts: disappointed Ken Mattingly, Bill Anders of Apollo 8. He phoned Lovell's ordered to join the cargo carriers Apollo 14 Commander Al Shepard, Lm Pilot and Haise's wives in Houston and Swig.!rt's Academician Rykachev and Novopolotsk Ed Mitchell,CMPilot Stu Roosa, Apollo 12's parents in Denver. He drove out to the God- converging on the Pacific target area. Cm Pilot Dick Gordon, Gene Cernan of dard Space Flight Center, in Maryland, pri- Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin sent a message Apollo 10, Dave Scott of Apollo 9, John mary switching center forNASA'Sworldwide saying: "I want to inform you (U.S. Gov- Young., Vance Brand, Ron Evans and Joe tracking and communications network. ernment) the Soviet Government has given Engle. As the men in Apollo 13 experienced what orders to all citizens and members of the Maneuvers that still remained to be ex- no men had undergone before, millionsr.ol - armed forces to use all necessary means to ecuted were simulated in complete detail. lowed the dedoping drama by radio and render assistance in the rescue of the Ameri- The big burn to get the quicker return and television in public squares, private homes, can (Apollo 13) astronauts." splashdcwn in the Pacific was simulated: schools, offices and factories. Pope Paul, at an placing the simulated spacecraft in the correct audience in St. Peter's Basilica for 10,000 attitude, firing f he Aquarius DPs engine, and Romans and tourists, said "We cannot forget checking the results by computer. Similarly, at this moment the lot of the astfonauts of the astronauts wenc through the simulated Apollo 13. 'We hope that af least their lives maneuvers of dropping the LunarModule, can be saved." Prolonged applause followed. dropping the Service Module and putting the Prayers were said at Jerusalem's Wailing Command Module into the correct attitude Wall and on the floor of Chicago's Board of for reentry into the atmosphere for safe Trade. landing. On Tuesday, April 14, the U.S. Senate Engineers in Downey, Calif., where Odys- adopted a resolution which urged all busi- sey was huilt, ran emergencyproblems nesses and communications media to pause at through computers. A team of 30 at Massa- 9 p.m., their local time, to "permit persons chusetts Institute of Technology, where the to join in prayer for the safety of the Apollo guidance system was designed, astronauts." worked through the night. Ten phone lines Offers of assistance with ships to aid in the were kept open between Mission Controland recovery came from many nations. The Asso- a room staffed with 7 0 LTA experts at the ciated Press quoted the Russian news agency manufacturer's plant in Bethpage, Long Tass as saying that four Soviet ships were Island. steaming toward the splashdown area, one of President Nixon cancelled appointments them the Chumikan, a missile tracker and kept in touch. He was briefed by former equipped with a helicopter. Tass said the astronauts Mike Collins of Apollo 11 and Chumikan and fishing trawler No. 8452 were 15 - . z `. `", '144. t . , 1 1 ` 4 The Moon from Apollo 13. Italian press reaction was typical of world-wide concern.

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Other nations offering assistance included built up to a peak in eight minutes and con- France, Britain, Holland, Italy, Spain, Ger- tinued for nearly an hour. many, Brazil and Uruguay. The seismic signals produced by the impact At 7:21 p.m. Tuesday, the spacecraft of S-IVB were 20 to 30 times greater and four swung behind the Moon, lost contact with times longer than those resulting from the Earth, and passed 164 miles above the lunar LM crash. Peak intensity occurred in 7 surface. Haise and Swigert, who had never minutes. been so close and might never get closer, The information from these two artificial snapped photos like a couple of tourists. At moonquakes led to reconsideration of 7:49 the spacecraft emerged on the other side theories proposed about the lunar interior. anc'_ was again picked up by tracking stations. Among puzzling features are the rapid build- This conversation took place: up to the peak and the prolonged reverbera- sCHouston, Aquarius. tions. Nothing comparable happens when CAT 70MAquariu5, Houston. objects strike Earth.

scThe view out there is fantastic , One theory is that the signal is scattered You can see where we're zooming off. and repropagated in very deep rubble. An- Apollo 13 was headed homeward. other holds that the velocities of seismic waves Moments later the 15-ton spent third stage from these impacts are comparable to meas- of the Saturn v launch vehicle crashed into urements of velocities in crystalline rock. So the Moon, as planned. the crystalline material which the astronauts It occurred at 8:09 p.m. EST, April 14. found so abundant on the Moon's surface The S-IVB struck the Moon with a force may extend very deep into the Moon. equivalent to 111/2 tons of TNT. It hit Houston reported the lunar impact of the 85 miles west northwest of the site where s-rvs to the spacecraft: the Apollo 12 astronauts had set up their CAPCOMBy the way, Aquarius. we see seismometer. Scientists on Earth said, the results now from 12's seismometer. Looks "the Moon rang like a bell." like your booster just hit the Moon, and it's Back in November 1969, the Apollo 12 rocking a little bit. astrcnauts had sent their Lunar Module crash- scIVell, at least something worked on ing into the Moon following their return this flight...I'm sure glad we didn't have to the command craft after the lunar landing an LM impact, too. mission. That Lunar Module struck with a Time was at hand for the burn, two hours force of one ton of TNT. The shock waves after closest apprat to the Moon. The de- . Aquarius pointY the way to distant Earth. he Flight contro!lers view prototype of the -do-it- visible rocket nozzle is part of the Aquarius yourself- liihium hydroxide unit that Apollo 13 Reaction Control System. astronauts constructed follov. ing directions from the ground. The apparatus enabled Aquarius to utilize lithium hydroxide canisters from the crippled Odyssey.

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scent engine would fire five seconds at 10 over from the Command Module. Oxygen percent throttle, 21 seconds at 40 percent, stores showed a margin of 95 hours. With and nearly four minutes at full blast. power kept up only on the life-support, This burn would add 585 miles per hour telemetry, and communications equipment, to the velocity of the spacecraft, bringing it except during critical maneuvers, cooling to Earth 10 hours sooner, and would make the water would last 23 hours beyond reentry, target for splashdown a spot in the Pacific batteries 60 hoursample to recharge the Ocean south of American Samoa. The carrier Command Module's batteries before separation. Iwo Jima already was enroute to that pin- One item could be a problem: the car- pointed spot. tridges of lithium hydroxide that remove CAPC0MThree minutescounting down carbon dioxide from the spacecraft atmo- ...Mark... sphere. The Lm's cartridges would last only seWe're burning 40 percent. .. 50 hours, and the cm's wouldn't fit the L.m. cAPcomLooking good at two minutes. Bob Smylie and Jim Correale, of the Crew seTwo minutes, Roger. . Systems 11;:vision at Houston, devised a make- CAPCOMAquarius, you're go at three shift adapter, and Astronaut Tony England minutes... tested '-he design by putting one together seShutdown. from oral instructions alone. As Mission cmacomI say that was a good burn. Control voiced these up to Aquarius, Swigert scNow we want to power down as soon and Lovell built- adapters using cardboard as possible. cue cards from unneeded lunar surface proce- CAPCOMIre have a procedure ready... dures, plastic storage bags, and adhesive Aquarius had been designed as a two-man tape to attach cartririges from the cm to urt spacecraft and, in the original flight plan, hoses that sucked cabin air through them. would have been used less than 60 hours. CAPCOMT he next step is to cut a diag- Could her consumablesoxygen, water, bat- onal hole. .. teriesbe stretched to keep three men alive scOkay, our do-it-yourself lithium hy- nearly 90 hours, from the loss of csm power droxide unit is complete. the evening before, to just before reentry two Earth stations continued to track the space- and a half days ahead ? craft. Within four hours after the big burn, After some early false alarms, the outlook just this side of the Moon, their data was by Wednesday morning was reassuring. showing that, becLise the automatic guidance Plenty of drinking water could be brought system had drifted out of alignment, the re- The do-it-yourself unit in Aquarius to utilize Jury-rigged urine disposal system. Swigert at right. lithium hydroxide canisters from the crippled Odyssey.

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sults hadn't been as precise as first thought. By the time Apollo 13 entered Earth's sphere of gravitational influence at 8 : 38 Wednesday morning, still 216,277 miles from home. the data showed it would miss by 99 miles and sail on in orbit forever. A big- ger midcourse correction than ever made before by a returning Apollo lunar mission was scheduled for near midnight. Again safety of the crew depended on Aquarius' descent enginc. The pacecraft was positioned by sighting on the Earth and Sun, a procedure never used previously, but one which had been developed in studies and checked by computers, and which was rechecked while Apollo 13 owe. was enroute from the Moon to the Earth. The engine was fired manually. Lovell and Haise, in their normal LM piloting positions, han- dled the attitude controls. Swigert, sitting on , the ascent engine (over, watched the timer to signal when to start and stop the burn, and Lovell pushed the buttons. Mission Control watched the results. CAPCOMIgnition . .Thrust looks good

...It shut down ...Nice work. seLet's hope it was. Ground trackers could soon report that it was, putting Apollo 13 comfortably within the reentry corridor. Heat from repeated firing of the descent engine had caused an increased rate of pressure buildup in the uses supercoldhelium Haise sleeps in Aquarius. He restrained his hands Lovell sleeps in Aquarius. so that his arms would not flop about in weightless space environment. Lovell's "grand oasis in the vastness of space" beckons to the homebound travelers.

tank, used to pressurize the fuel tanks but no long underwear. The cabin walls were per- longer needed. Just after noon the tank's spiring, the windows wet and partly frosted burst disca relief valveruptured, as it over. All food was cold, for there was nohot was designed to do, and the heliumvented water in the Lm to mix with the dehydrated into space. The gas had been expected to meals. The men dozed, always leaving one spew out equally in opposite directions,hav- on watch, but real sleep was rare. DekeSlay- ing no propulsive effect on the spacecraft. ton, chief astronaut as Director of Flight cA 13 COMSee anything? Crew Operations, told them they could take scYeah, I was just about ready to call stay-awake pills during the final hours. you. Underneath Quad 4 I noticed a lot of At Mission Control, Gene Kranz's entire sparklies going out. team of flight controllers was taken off its CAPCOMCan you hear or feel anything? regular shifts to work out and rehearse space- sc/ sure did ...I think it changed our craft separation and entry routines. Astro- PTC (Passive Thermal Control of the space- nauts in the simulators proved out every craft by slowly rotating it tt. distribute the maneuver and crew procedure. Thursday Sun's heat) ...I was in right yaw and now evening Capsule Communicators began hours I'm in left yaw, at a much faster rate ...Is of reading up check lists to Swigert, then that what they call a nonpropulsive vent? Haise. CAPCOMRight. I'd hate to see a propul- CAPCOMNext verify ... sive one. sc/ may not sound too clear, because Thermal control was soon restored by use I'm holding a flashlight between my teeth. of bursts from the control thrusters until the Shortly before 4 o'clock Friday morning, slow rate of rotation was readjusted. Switches Eastern Standard Time, Lovell and Haise, un- were thrown to begin recharging the Com- able to sleep longer, began powerIng up mand Module's reentry batteries from the Aquarius three hours earlier than planned. Lm's. And the astronauts of Apollo 13 were The cabin warmed a bit. As they realigned allowed the first period of relatively relaxed the guidance system, Swigertwatching the activity since the accident. time till he could begin reviving dead, cold But their physical hardshiFs grew by the Odysseywryly urged them on: hour. scThat Earth is whistling in like a Temperatures in the darkened cm dropped freight train. to 38 degrees. Lovell and Haise pulled on A final course correction with the Lm's their lunar boots, Swigert an extra suit of small reaction-control jets at 7:53 put the

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spacecraft exactly in the center of the corri- Control and Lovell, the world's most experi- dor in which it should enter the atmosphere. enced man in space and veteran of four CAPCOMYou can jettison the Service flights: Module when you are ready.No big rush, hut scIVell, I can't say that this week hasn't any time. been filled with excitement. As Aquarius, leading the train of linked CAPCOMWell, James, if you can't take modides, pushed gently backward, Swigert any better care of tbe spacecraft than that, fired small explosive devices to sever the sm we might not give you another one. from the cm. Aquarius then pulled forward Time approached to abandon the Apollo to complete the separation. The useless Serv- 13 lifeboat. Lovell and Haise joined Swigert ice Module drifted away from the other two, in the Commnd Module, now fully powered still joined in a configuration never flown by its own batteries. before or practiced in the simulators before sclVe're ready to proceed with hatch the flight. closeup. The three crewmen watched from separate CAPCOMDid Jim gel the film out of windows and took photographs that might Aquarius? help tell what had happened at the moment SCYou mean the film we took this morn- when near-disaster struck 82 hours and nearly ing? Yes. we transferred that. half a million miles ago. Since the cm's jets can control only its scOkay. I've got her. attitude, not push or pull, separation would CAPCOMBeautiful, beautiful. be accomplished by firing pyrotechnics to cut scAnd there's one whole side of that LM loose and simply letting pressure in the spacecraft inissin...Right by the high- closed tunnel between the modules push them gain antenna the whole panel is blown out, apart. almost from the base to the engine. ..It's scCan I proceed on and kind of punch really a mess. off early? CAPCOMTake pictures, but don't make CAPCOMJack, when you are comfortably any unnecessary maneuvers. ready to punch off, you can go ahead and do sc Man, that's unbelievablelooks like a it. lot of debris is just hanging out of the side At 11:23 Swigert punched the button. near the S-band antenna. sCLm jettison. As Haise began shutting down the LM, CAPCOMFarewell, Aquarius, and we this exchange took place between Mission thank you. 14.4 r Separation sequence of Aquarius and Odyssey prior to reentry.

"Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you.-

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2 a Officials join flight controllers in monitoring Odyssey drifts down through cloudy skies. Apollo 13 flight. From left: Thomas H. McMullen, Assistant Mission Director; Dale D. Myers, Asso- ciate Administrator, Office of Manned Space Flight; Chester M. Lee, Mission Director; and Dr. Rocco Petrone, Apollo Program Director.

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scShe sure was a great ship. watched the charred spacecraft drift down The flimsy Aquarius, unshielded for re- through broken clouds to a splashdown in turn to Earth, would burn up in the atmos- moderate seas four miles from the ship at phere. 1:08 p.m., 142 hours 54 minutes 41 seconds Six hundred miles southeast of Samoa the after launch. carrier USS Iwo Jima awaited Odyssey. Res- Swimmers jumped from a helicopter, at- cue planes patrolled a bath-tub shaped ex- tached a flotation collar and rubber rafts, and panse of bluePacific390miles wide and stretch- opened the hatch. From the rafts the astro- ing 460 miles uprange and 115 downrange of nauts, in turn, were hoisted in a basket, the target point. The spacecraft's speed rose shaped like half a bird cage, to the recovery dramatically as it angled Earthward above the helicopter. Indian Ocean and across southern Australia: RECOVERYI have Astronaut Haise

22,085 feet per second...25,693. .. aboard, and his condition is excellent... 31,141...34,333..35,837more than 24,000 miles an hourjust before the plunge into the atmosphere at 400,000 feet. CAPCOMWe've just had one last time around the room and everybody says you're looking great. scThank you. For three long minutes no word was heard from the spacecraft as friction with the air raised the heat shield to a fiery glow that blacked out radio communication. Then: CAPCOMOdyssey ,Standing by.

scOkay,. . CAPCOMOkay, we read yoU, Jack. scWe got two drogues. Odyssey's two small parachutes pulled out its three 85-foot orange-and-white main chutes. Through color TV cameras aboard the Iwo Jima and in a photo helicopter, the world 2 Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Apollo 13 astronauts wait in life raft for pick up by helicopter.

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2 5 Mission Control after astronauts are safe on the recovery ship. Lovell, on screen, welcomed by the crew of primary recovery vessel, the I TSS Iwo Jima.

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4. President Nixon awards Presidential Medal of The astronauts and President Nixon, after cere- Freedom to flight directors who helped bring monies in which they were awarded the Presidential Apollo 13 safely home. Left to right: Flight Direc- Medal of Freedom. Lcft to right: Haise, Lovell, tors Glynn S. Lunney, Eugene F. Kranz, Gerald the President and Sv:igert. Griffin and Milton L. Windier; Director of Flight Operations Sigurd A. Sjoberg. Seated at left are Mrs. Nixon and Dr. Thomas 0. Paine, NASA Administrator.

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I have Astronaut Swigert on board. He reports he feels fine.. .1 have Captain Lovell aboard. He reports he feels fine. Forty-five minutes from splashdownthe fastest recovery everthey were safe on Iwo Jima's red-carpeted deck. Microphones had been set up. The admiral and the captain spoke. The ship's chaplain prayed. A band played. But Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise were too tired for public speeches. From the flight deck of the Iwo Jima to American Samoa, to Hawaii and on to Hous- ton, the crew of Apollo 13 travelled on a wave of applause. President Nixon presented the Medal of Freedom to the three astronauts and to Sigurd A. Sjoberg, Director of Flight Operations, and to Flight Directors Glynn S. Lunney, Eugene F. Kranz, Gerald Griffin, and Milton L. Wind ler. The President of the United States summarized the reaction of many when he said, "The three astronauts did not reach the Moon, but they reached the hearts of millions of people in America and in the world." Fiction had turned to fact in the flight of Odyssey and Aquarius. The tension, the agony, and the relief were understated by Jim Lovell: "We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it." But all expressed confidence in America's program of space exploration and pianned to "... learn from our mistakes and get on with the job." . . . . .

EP-76 Produced by the Mho of Public Affairs National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washinston, D.C. 20346 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. 20402Price 75 cents * U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFIC13.1970 354459