Apollo 13 The Real Story
Summary
TLDRThe script recounts the dramatic story of Apollo 13's ill-fated lunar mission in 1970. After an explosion crippled the spacecraft, the crew and mission control faced a harrowing fight for survival, using ingenuity and resilience to return safely to Earth. The ordeal, marked by icy calm in the face of death and an absolute refusal to admit defeat, remains a testament to human spirit and the power of teamwork under extreme conditions.
Takeaways
- 🚀 The script recounts the dramatic story of Apollo 13, a mission that faced numerous challenges and ultimately did not reach the moon due to a catastrophic failure.
- 🌌 Despite being overshadowed by other events at the time, such as the Vietnam War and the Beatles breaking up, Apollo 13 became a major story that captured global attention.
- 👨🚀 Mission Commander Jim Lovell, along with astronauts Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, displayed exceptional composure and determination in the face of life-threatening adversity.
- 🔢 The mission faced a critical moment when an explosion occurred in one of the oxygen tanks, leading to a rapid series of events that required immediate and innovative problem-solving.
- 🛰️ The lunar module, designed to support two astronauts for a short period, was repurposed as a lifeboat to sustain the crew during their journey back to Earth.
- 🔄 The crew and mission control had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to correct the spacecraft's trajectory and ensure a safe re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
- 🛠️ An engineering challenge was overcome when creating an adapter to fit square carbon dioxide filters into round openings, a critical step in managing the life-support system.
- ⏱️ Time was of the essence as the crew and mission control worked against the clock to power down the command module, power up the lunar module, and execute a series of precise maneuvers.
- 🌡️ The astronauts endured extreme conditions, including freezing temperatures, dehydration, and limited food, highlighting the physical and mental resilience required in space travel.
- 🌍 The successful re-entry and splashdown of Apollo 13 marked a triumph of human ingenuity and teamwork, demonstrating the ability to overcome even the most daunting space travel challenges.
- 🤝 The script emphasizes the importance of trust and communication between the astronauts and mission control, as well as the collective effort that led to the safe return of the crew.
Q & A
What was the general public's reaction to the Apollo 13 mission before the launch?
-The general public was largely indifferent to the Apollo 13 mission before the launch. The mission was overshadowed by other news, such as the Vietnam War and the breakup of the Beatles. Apollo 13 was not front-page news and was mentioned only briefly in newspapers.
How did Mission Commander Jim Lovell and his crew initially perceive the number 13 in their mission designation?
-Jim Lovell and his crew did not initially consider the number 13 to be significant or superstitious. However, Lovell's wife Marilyn was concerned about it, fearing it might be an omen of bad luck.
What was the significance of Apollo 13's launch time?
-Apollo 13's launch was scheduled for 1:13 p.m. (military time 13:13), which was seen as flaunting the idea that NASA did not care about superstitions related to the number 13.
What was the first major issue that Apollo 13 encountered shortly after launch?
-Shortly after launch, one of the engines in the second stage of the rocket shut down prematurely. This required Mission Control to quickly calculate if the remaining engines could get the crew into orbit, which they successfully did.
Describe the incident that occurred when Jack Swigert stirred the liquid oxygen tanks.
-When Jack Swigert stirred the liquid oxygen tanks, there was a loud bang, and the spacecraft experienced a catastrophic failure. This caused an oxygen tank to explode, resulting in the loss of most of the spacecraft's oxygen and power.
How did Mission Control and the astronauts respond immediately after the explosion?
-Immediately after the explosion, there was initial disbelief and confusion in Mission Control as they tried to diagnose the problem. The astronauts, maintaining their calm, communicated the issue with Mission Control and began troubleshooting the situation.
What decision did Mission Control make regarding the trajectory of Apollo 13 after the explosion?
-Mission Control decided to take the safer, albeit longer, route around the moon instead of attempting a direct abort. This decision aimed to use the lunar module as a lifeboat for the astronauts to survive the journey back to Earth.
How did the crew of Apollo 13 manage their limited resources during the journey back to Earth?
-The crew had to shut down non-essential systems to conserve power, resulting in very cold conditions inside the spacecraft. They also had to rig a solution to fit square carbon dioxide filters from the Command Module into the round openings in the lunar module to prevent carbon dioxide poisoning.
What critical maneuver did the Apollo 13 crew perform to correct their course towards Earth?
-The crew performed a critical burn of the lunar module's engine to adjust their trajectory towards Earth. This maneuver had to be executed manually, with one astronaut controlling the pitch and yaw and another timing the burn, due to the failure of their automated systems.
What was the final challenge faced by the Apollo 13 crew before re-entry, and how did they overcome it?
-The final challenge was restarting the Command Module, which had been shut down to save power. The crew followed a complex 500-step procedure communicated by Mission Control to successfully power up the Command Module using only its limited battery power. This ensured they could safely re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
Outlines
🚀 Apollo 13: A Mission of Survival and Calmness
The script opens with a dramatic recount of the Apollo 13 mission, emphasizing the crew's composure in the face of life-threatening challenges. The mission, which was overshadowed by contemporary events such as the Vietnam War and the Beatles' breakup, is highlighted for its routine nature despite being fraught with danger. The narrative introduces key figures like Mission Commander Jim Lovell, an experienced astronaut, and his fellow crew members, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, both on their maiden space voyage. The script also touches on the superstition surrounding the number 13, which did not deter NASA from proceeding with the mission, and the launch's initial hiccup with an engine malfunction that was swiftly managed by Mission Control.
🌌 The Hostile Journey to the Moon and the Struggle for Survival
This paragraph delves into the Apollo 13's journey, detailing the high-stress environment of space travel and the meticulous management of life-supporting resources. The spacecraft's structure, comprising the Command Module, Lunar Module, and Service Module, is explained. The narrative recounts the live TV broadcast intended for public relations, which was largely ignored due to other concurrent events. The paragraph culminates in the fateful moment when an explosion occurs in the Service Module, triggered by a malfunctioning oxygen tank, leaving the astronauts in a dire situation 200,000 miles from Earth, with oxygen rapidly depleting and the mission to the Moon aborted.
🔧 Crisis Management in Space: Apollo 13's Struggle for Oxygen
The script describes the immediate aftermath of the explosion on Apollo 13, focusing on the crew's and Mission Control's urgent efforts to address the critical loss of oxygen. The crisis escalated as one oxygen tank was destroyed and the other's supply dwindled. Astronaut Fred Haise's humor is noted during a tense live broadcast, which inadvertently foreshadowed the disaster. The explosion's impact is further detailed, revealing the astronauts' realization of the severity of their situation as they witness oxygen escaping into space. The response from Mission Control was initially one of disbelief, but it quickly turned to decisive action to ensure the crew's survival.
🌑 The Lunar Module as a Lifeboat: A Pivotal Decision for Survival
The narrative shifts to the critical decision-making process during the crisis, where the lunar module, initially intended for moon landing, was repurposed as a lifeboat to sustain the crew. The challenges of power management, oxygen supply, and the need to preserve resources for the return journey are highlighted. The paragraph underscores the ingenuity and quick thinking required to transfer critical data from the Command Module to the Lunar Module's computers using rudimentary methods. The difficult choice between a direct abort and a longer return trajectory around the Moon is discussed, ultimately opting for the safer but more time-consuming route.
🛰️ The Long Journey Home: Challenges and Adaptations
This section of the script details the astronauts' struggle to return to Earth, using the Lunar Module as a lifeboat designed for a shorter journey and with limited resources. The crew had to navigate around the Moon and set a course for Earth, a distance of 240,000 miles, with a tiny margin for error. The physical and psychological toll of the ordeal is described, with the astronauts enduring cold, hunger, and sleep deprivation. The ingenuity required to create an adapter for the carbon dioxide filters using materials like duct tape is highlighted, showcasing the team's resourcefulness in the face of life-threatening obstacles.
🔄 Correcting the Trajectory: A Team Effort to Avert Disaster
The script describes the critical moment when Mission Control discovered that Apollo 13 was drifting off course, risking a missed re-entry and a potential loss of the spacecraft. The crew was instructed to perform a manual burn to correct the trajectory, a task never done before, relying on visual cues and precise calculations. The trust between the astronauts and Mission Control is emphasized, as the crew executed the maneuver flawlessly. The successful re-entry and the relief in Mission Control upon re-establishing contact with Apollo 13 are poignantly captured, highlighting the collective effort that brought the astronauts home.
🛬 The Safe Return: Apollo 13's Splashdown and Aftermath
The final paragraph recounts the tense moments leading up to Apollo 13's re-entry and splashdown. The crew's successful re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and the subsequent blackout during which all communication was lost are described. The emotional relief in Mission Control upon hearing from the crew after the blackout is palpable. The astronauts' return to the Command Module, the separation of the damaged Service Module, and the jettisoning of the Lunar Module are detailed. The script concludes with the astronauts' safe return to Earth, their first interactions after splashdown, and a reflection on the historic nature of their mission, which remains the farthest humans have ventured from home and a testament to their resilience and survival against all odds.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Apollo 13
💡Mission Control
💡Oxygen tank explosion
💡Lifeboat
💡Carbon dioxide
💡Heat shield
💡Direct abort
💡Re-entry
💡Blackout
💡Splashdown
Highlights
Apollo 13's mission was overshadowed by the Vietnam War and the Beatles breaking up, not receiving significant media attention before launch.
Jim Lovell, the mission commander, was an experienced astronaut who had been a backup pilot for the first moon landing.
Apollo 13 aimed to bring back rock and soil samples from a challenging lunar landing site.
The crew, including first-time astronauts Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, faced the superstition surrounding the number 13 with indifference.
NASA's Mission Control in Houston was overseen by Gene Kranz, who managed a team of young engineers controlling every aspect of the spaceflight.
The astronauts were experimental test pilots accustomed to mortal danger, which contributed to their calm demeanor during the crisis.
An explosion in the service module containing the oxygen tanks occurred after a routine stir of liquid oxygen, causing a catastrophic failure.
The famous phrase 'Houston, we've had a problem' was the understated announcement of a serious malfunction.
The lunar module served as a lifeboat, providing air, water, and battery power after the explosion.
The crew had to power down the command module to save resources and rely on the lunar module's limited supplies.
A direct abort to return quickly to Earth was considered too risky due to potential further failures of the damaged main engine.
The decision was made to go around the Moon, accepting a longer return trip and increased risk of resource depletion.
An improvised CO2 filter adapter using duct tape and plastic bags was devised to prevent carbon dioxide poisoning.
The crew executed a manual burn to correct the spacecraft's trajectory, ensuring they would re-enter Earth's atmosphere correctly.
The command module was successfully restarted after being shut down and frozen, providing a ride home for the crew.
The world watched with bated breath as Apollo 13 re-entered Earth's atmosphere, the crew's survival depending on the integrity of the heat shield.
Apollo 13's successful splashdown marked an unprecedented achievement in overcoming numerous disasters to return astronauts alive from the farthest humans have ventured.
Transcripts
tonight the real people we had a pretty
large Bank associated with
the the real pictures and there one
whole of that the real story of Apollo
13 it's a story of icy calm in the face
of death the odds were very small that
we're going to get out of this alive of
absolute refusal to admit defeat Will
Never Surrender we will never give up
crew of Hope against all ODS I just knew
he'd come
back and ordeal that lasted less than 6
days but still Echoes decades later
every time a spacecraft splits the
heavens and lift
[Music]
off April 1970 America was convulsed
over the Vietnam War
airport was the big hit in theaters and
the news on April 10th that the Beatles
were breaking up far overshadowed the
moon mission scheduled the next day as a
matter of fact before we took off I
think the only mention of Apollo 13 on
the New York Times was on the weather
page about 97 pages in Mission Commander
Jim lble was one of NASA's most
experienced astronauts he'd been a
backup pilot for the first moon landing
in July of 69 that's one small step for
man Apollo 11 had transfixed the world
but then came Apollo 12 and now 13
moonshots had come to seem routine so
you weren't front page news did that
bother you at all no because this is
what I wanted to do Apollo 13 would
bring back Rock and soil samples from a
hilly region of the Moon a much trickier
Landing site than those of previous
missions lovel's fellow astronauts Jack
Swagger and Fred Hayes were both on
their first space flight just a thought
of going to the Moon was just so
incredible that uh I couldn't pass up
the chance as Hayes and the others tell
it today none of them gave a moment's
thought to the one thing about the
mission that did catch the average
person's attention a lot of people just
don't even deal with the number 13 they
don't want to talk about it did it
register with you at all it didn't I
didn't even think about the number being
superstitious that is not true with my
wife my wife Marilyn said why 13 it did
bother me yes and I said what happened
to 14 but unlike an elevator NASA didn't
skip 13 Superstition uh can't have any
place as if to drive home the point lead
flight director Jean CR recalls that
NASA scheduled Apollo 13's launch for
1:13 p.m. or in military time 1313 you
were kind of flaunting the fact that you
didn't care about Superstition I think
uh every person that was in this room uh
lived to to flaunt the odds we were
working on the Ragged edge of all
knowledge all technology and all
experience in this room this room was
cr's domain Mission Control in Houston
it had a the smell of the the cigarette
smoke I mean we all smoked very heavily
pipes cigars cigarettes coffee pot that
had been boiled over and had burned out
CR oversaw a 247 team of young Engineers
who controlled every aspect of space
flight the astronauts lives in their
hands you guys had to look around at
each other and think we we're kind of a
group of badasses in here I mean you had
to feel pretty good about yourselves
well the culture of this room was
literally miraculous it seemed that
whatever happened we were better as a
total team than the sum of the parts the
same of course could be said for the
three men riding the rocket all of them
former test pilots for whom mortal
danger was just part of the job when you
became an astronaut did you feel special
did did you feel Invincible at all I
didn't feel Invincible I mean the re
Wars involved overcame the risk that was
involved for families at home a
different equation did you ever get used
to the risk involved
Marilyn no we put it out of your mind
but I can't say that um it was easy at
times so on the day before launch you're
out at a beach house M and getting ready
to see your husband for the last time
before he heads into space and something
strange happened with your wedding ring
what happened well I was taking a shower
and I it just slipped right off my hand
and it went into the drain and I just
was terrified because to me it was like
an omen that something really was going
to happen it shook you up well it did
shake me up did you ever tell Jim about
it before the flight uh no oh no you
would never let that thought enter his
mind before he's about to jump on that
rocket no for some reason or other the
astronaut wives just never discussed
anything that would uh work their
husbands um before they went on a
flight I mean we kept everything to
ourselves several hours before launch
and you guys get in that elevator that
takes you for the ride alongside of and
then eventually to the top of the Saturn
rocket that that's a long elevator ride
up it's 337 ft uh just the crew three of
us and a couple nervous check out people
are getting us into the spacecraft
because it's basically a huge bomb that
you're you're riding up alongside 5 half
million pounds of high explosives in the
form of oxygen hydrogen and everything
else any
Jitters no it's too late for Jitters at
that time suddenly they say you know 5 4
3 2 1 zero and those engines go and
you're on your way we have Commit and we
have liftoff at
2133 well a liftoff most people think it
would be a big kick in the pants starts
off very slowly because the vehicle
weighs so much even though it has a five
engines running patter 5 building up to
7.6 million PB of trust and it is
cleared the tower that's when you have
your head close to the abort switch in
case anything really goes wrong and
something did go wrong one of the
engines in the second stage of the
rocket shut down prematurely forcing
Mission Control to make a series of
quick calculations are the remaining
engines all go do we have enough
propellant to get the crew up into orb
but within seconds Mission controllers
determined that despite the malfunction
Apollo 13 was good to go for the moon I
looked at my companions and I said you
know every flight has a crisis something
always goes wrong this happened early on
the flight and we're now free and clear
of any other things going
wrong and he was right for about 55
hours
[Music]
on April 11th 1970 2 hours and 35
minutes after liftoff Apollo 13 fired
its Rockets accelerated to 24,000 mph
and left Earth's orbit Bound for the
moon and people always say Jim they say
into the calm and the Peace of outer
space outer space is a pretty hostile
environment isn't it
well it is uh you had to be prepared for
it outside was a complete vacuum if the
ship's hole failed the crew would die in
seconds if the power failed they'd
freeze to death in hours everything they
needed to survive air water food and
fuel had to be carefully managed even
when things are going smoothly it's a
high stress environment isn't it oh
definitely I think the whole Program in
those days is sort of a high stress
environment it certainly was on the
ground in the pressure cooker that was
mission control watching and listening
to your crew die is something that will
impress that event upon your mind
forever Jean CR had been a flight
director when just 3 years earlier
Apollo 1 caught fire on the Launchpad
incinerating astronauts Gus Grom Ed
White and Roger chaffy soon after cran
helped write a document called
foundations of Mission Control I'm going
to read you a passage from it it says
quote suddenly and unexpectedly we may
find ourselves in a role where our
performance has ultimate consequences
the work in this room is final the
decisions are final the team in this
room must be prepared not only to make
those decisions but to live with the
results that occur but the first two
days of Apollo 13's Mission hardly
seemed like life or death spacecraft's
in real good shape as far as we're
concerned Jim we're bored to tears down
here the spacecraft had three parts The
cone-shaped Command Module was where all
three men would ride for most of the
trip to the moon and then back to Earth
the spidery lunar module or LM would
carry two astronauts to the lunar
surface then be left behind the last
critical piece was the service module
which contained the main engine and
oxygen tanks 13 Houston we got a groovy
TV picture 55 hours and 11 minutes into
the mission Apollo 13's crew made time
for an important duty public relations
they beamed back a live TV show to Earth
something NASA liked to do so taxpayers
could see what they were up to Fred
Hayes was the actor in this whole thing
went in the lunar module and he opened
up the bed that he was going to sleep on
sort of a hammock and he tried to show
people how he was going to sleep on this
bed of course he zero gravity so he kept
bouncing up and down it's kind of
difficult here Jack getting into a
hammock and
a lighthearted look at life in space it
doesn't work too space can't call ha up
here great show except no one was
watching it explain why that was one
network had did c a live show I think a
second Network had a rerun of luy and
the third network at least in the city
of Houston Texas the baseball game was
going on and everybody was watching that
including the people at the control
center here we had been to the Moon
twice and in some ways H hum had set in
complacency Jim's wife Marilyn and
daughters Barbara and Susan did watch
the show in a private viewing room at
Mission Control and when you found out
that not one of the networks carried
that broadcast how did it make you feel
pretty bad did that upset me yes but
they got to see something the rest of
the world didn't an example of Fred
Hayes's unusual sense of humor you
pulled something during that event that
kind of got everyone's attention and Jim
level comment on talk to me about it
there is a valve in the limb the repress
valve that when cycled does make a
fairly pronounced bang Hayes turned the
valve on live TV and the bang startled
Commander Jim
level every time he does that our heart
our heart jump in our mouth he throws it
and it gives a big bang you know and
then inside the spacecraft so every we
look and say oh that's Haze again no
harm done this is the clue of APO 13
wish everybody
there nice Eventing it was after the
broadcast Jim that that mission control
radios up and they and they asked you to
do something as the crew that was fairly
routine involving one of the liquid
oxygen tanks two tanks of super cooled
liquid oxygen were the ship's most
precious resource providing both air and
fuel to get accurate readings from the
tanks Mission controllers had to make
sure the liquid didn't settle at the
bottom what they ask you to do it's sort
of like a mush this liquid oxygen and so
there's a fan down at the bottom of
inside the tank and a little heater
system and so the question was would you
turn on the the the fan and the heater
system and stir up the oxygen and to
accomplish that inside the spacecraft
what did you have to do actually just
flip a switch barely flipped the switch
they were about 200,000 mi from Earth
when Jack Swagger flipped the switch the
date by the way was April 13th you would
like it to uh stir up your cryo
tanks seconds later the men of Apollo 13
were fighting for their
[Music]
lives at precisely 55 hours 53 minutes
and 18 seconds into the flight of Apollo
13 astronaut Jack Swagger followed
Mission control's instruction to flip
the switch that stirred the liquid
oxygen tanks everything seemed normal
and
then it just had a big bang at one time
and so we all looked around what
happened what's that I looked up at Fred
Hayes to see if he knew what was going
on remember Hayes liked to play tricks
with a pressure valve immediately Jim
level looks over to see has Fred Hayes
pulled another fast one on me I'm sure
he saw it in my eyes and he saw I wasn't
smiling and I could tell from his exper
impression he had no idea so this wasn't
one of his practical jokes with the
pressure he had no idea Haze was in the
tunnel between the Command Module and
the lunar module I heard the loud bang
and uh metallic sounds because the way
the uh the vehicle contorted it actually
Twisted enough in the tunnel area that
it crinkle a metal it could hear that
metal crinkling did your heart jump up
into your throat I mean that's that's
that's not a sound you want to hear
200,000 mi from home a absolutely and I
knew it right away was not not a normal
circumstance Jack swager radioed Mission
Control problem say again please 15
seconds later Lovel repeated the
message I listen to that radio
transmission that is probably as famous
as the flight itself those five words
Houston we've had a problem and I listen
to the calm in your voice were you as
calm as you s
I kind of think so I mean I was faced
with a problem and so if I did nothing
but you know you know bounce off the
walls for 10 minutes I'd be right back
to where that problem was things were
not so calm in mission control as soon
as we received this call it seemed our
data just went wild it was screwy and
for about 60 seconds it was literally
chaos in this room in those 60 seconds
it seemed that every controller at every
console saw a problem with Apollo 13 He
flight we've had a computer restart now
controller says main bus underfall third
one says antenna switch it did not seem
possible for so many things to go wrong
at the same
time they thought it had to be A Fault
In Their Communications or their
monitoring systems not the spacecraft
itself we may have had an
instrumentation problem plan I
immediately thought okay it's a minor
electrical problem we'll work this when
the shifts over the astronauts knew it
was much worse than that they thought
they'd been hit by a meteor Fred Hayes
called Mission Control 50 seconds into
the crisis we had a pretty large bang
associated with the warning now in the
first few
minutes there was a absolute disbelief
the controllers had never come face to
face with a real problem that we didn't
have any immediate an for crucial
minutes ticked by Jim level stared at
his instrument paddle one oxygen tank
gauge the quantity gauge read zero and
the other one I could see the Needle
start to go down ever so slightly and
that's when I drifted over and looked
out the side window and I saw escaping
at a high rate of speed a gaseous
substance from the rear end of my
spacecraft the crisis was now in minute
14 i l looking out the hat that we are
bending something we are we are vending
something out into the uh space Roger we
copy your vending Jim this isn't like
getting a blowout of your tire on a
highway you are 200,000 miles into outer
space drifting further and further away
from Earth what's your emotion at that
moment well I'll tell you the very first
thing that I thought of why didn't this
happen on Apollo 12 or Why didn't it
wait for Apollo 14 got
okay can you tell us anything about the
vending uh where it's coming from coming
out of window one right now do the
astrona seem abnormally calm cran says
there's a reason this is why we flew
experimental test pilots in the
spacecraft their demeanor was such when
you listen to these reports and get the
reporting that's coming in they're just
reporting a uh situation on board the
spacecraft but everyone who heard
level's report instantly knew what it
meant we had an explosion with an
enormous amount of corollary damage in
fact they came to learn Apollo 13 had
suffered a catastrophic failure there
was faulty wiring inside liquid oxygen
tank 2 when Jack Swagger stirred the
tank a spark started a fire fueled by
pure oxygen the tank blew up taking out
the ship's main supplies of air and
power and I realized the gas escaping
and the needle on my second and last
best tank the quantity gauge was one of
the same and surely we'd be completely
out of oxygen completely out of oxygen
speeding away from Earth at 2,000 mph I
think every controller at that time
recognized we're not going to the moon
but also it's going to be tough damn
tough to get the crew of Apollo 13 home
the odds were very small at that time
among ourselves that we're going to get
out of this
alive
[Music]
the night of April 13th Marilyn Lille
and her daughters returned home from
Mission Control where just minutes
earlier they'd watched Jim and his crew
on TV from outer space friends dropped
in astronaut Pete Conrad and his wife
and the phone rang it was another friend
who worked for NASA and he said Marilyn
I just want you to know that uh all
these different countries have offered
to help you know in the recovery and
whatever I couldn't understand what he
was talking about and I said Jerry I
said have you been drinking she no
sooner hung up than another phone a
direct line to NASA started ringing and
immediately Pete came out and I can
still see him standing across the room
from me with eyes as large as saucers
and he said bar we have to talk he
filled her in they turned on the TV
Apollo 13 once the Forgotten Moonlight
suddenly the biggest story on Earth
Apollo 13 it's sources badly damaged its
Mission To The Moon ended its astronauts
under a strain more severe than any
others have yet endured the ship was
crippled leaking oxygen the mission to
the Moon Over the three astronauts one
of them her husband were probably doomed
I just couldn't believe what I was
hearing and at that moment the house was
just filling with people people didn't
know what to say to me best friends they
couldn't say anything and says Jim
loville he and Mission Control were not
sure what to say to each other either
well from an emotional point of view
Matt first of all they didn't want to
say to us you have a real problem here
and we didn't want to say to them I
think we got a real problem I mean we
knew that but is that just the bravado
of a test pilot and Astronaut no it's I
I think it's the case hey we're beyond
that now we have a we have a problem how
do we get out of this problem what what
do we do we don't know yet just what the
steps are to do that but jean CR knew
they all had to start making some
decisions and fast I was a fighter pilot
fighter pilots my time used the words
looking into the eye of a tiger and this
was the feeling I had when I recognized
we were in survival mode and we had to
kick in and get going as a team to help
this crew out the first problem oxygen
The Command Module was going to run out
in a matter of minutes they had to
figure out a way to save level Hayes and
swager fast the only option was one they
played out in simulations but never
expected to
[Music]
do now they start looking at the lunar
module did you ever think you'd have to
use that module as a Lifeboat never
thought I'd have to use it as a Lifeboat
the lunar module the spidery looking
craft they planned to land on the moon
and then leave behind it had its own
supply of air water and battery power
the Luna module was so fragile you could
punch a hole through the skin in it but
we had live off of it because it had
oxygen what the lunar module could not
do was re-enter the Earth's atmosphere
it could not get them home so even
though the Command Module was crippled
they had to save whatever Air and Power
it had left the only thing in the
Command Module was a little battery and
a little oxygen tank for the final
plunge through the Earth's atmosphere
Jack schwier was the Command Module
pilot I said Jack you power down this
Command Module save what you can we're
going into the lunar module power power
it up and so basically you're you're
you're buying time you're you're
stalling for time in that lunar module
so you can get back to that Command
Module for that precise moment you need
it to get back into the Earth's
atmosphere that's right the Command
Module was the only thing that had a
heat shield 1 hour now into the crisis
It Was a Race power down the Command
Module before its batteries ran out
power up the lunar module before oxygen
ran out they'd all trained for years but
never for this and I knew the Command
Module had only so much life left and we
we very quickly had to get to a point in
the startup of the lunar module before
the Command Module completely died the
command module's computers contain
critical data the crew had to transfer
to the lm's computers fast and they had
to do it the oldfashioned way so when
people look at their Blackberry today or
their iPhone they're holding something
in their hand that has far more
Computing capability ities than the
spacecraft you were flying in outer
space with oh yes Jack swager called me
all the numbers and I wrote them down
and then we had a a conversion table for
the lunar module and I did the
arithmetic to get the new numbers and
then I called michig control I said
would you check my my arithmetic for me
please to make sure I'm not making
you're afraid to make a mistake here a
mistake will cost you your life that's
right I'm using all the assets I have
and that included the control center
they got into the lunar module with
moments to spare but now another
decision loomed how to get back to Earth
I had a very fundamental decision I had
to make uh we could execute what we call
a direct abort and come around the front
side of the moon and be home in a day
and a half it was the quickest way home
but it would mean using the main engine
the one nearest the explosion what if
that engine failed or blew up as well if
this maneuver isn't executed
perfectly you're going to impact the
moon if the spacecraft would actually go
right into the surface of the Moon Yeah
Yeah CR didn't want to take the risk the
other option I'd have to go completely
around the Moon take between four and 5
days to get back home the problem with
that was obvious to the astronauts
themselves when we started going the
Luna module I realized it was designed
for two guys for two days and I counted
the crew one two three guys for four
days simple arithmetic that meant they
could run out of air power and water
long before reaching Earth in the end it
was the flight director's decision and
it was purely in a gut feeling that says
go around the Moon take your chances
trust your team to find the answers in
other words take the long way home and
risk losing their crew in
space here in Mission Control we're now
looking towards an alternate Mission 5
and 1/2 hours after an explosion
crippled their spaceship the crew of
Apollo 13 was riding in a Lifeboat three
men in a lunar module meant for two the
LM was designed to carry them just 60 mi
from lunar orbit to the surface now they
had to use the lm's rocket in a way its
designers never intended to steer them
around the moon and set their course for
Earth A4 Million Miles Away did you ever
have any doubts about whether you could
accomplish it well naturally I think
everybody does uh in a situation like
this they had a tiny margin for error
and no second chances it's not just
dying Jim it's the kind of death it it's
and I've thought about this it's running
out of oxygen and drifting in space
perhaps forever how did you deal with
those thoughts oh we didn't think about
what the final results would be if we
weren't successful what would finally
get to us running out of uh all kinds of
electrical
getting onto an orbit that we couldn't
correct and be in a orbit around the
Earth for hundreds of years you left one
out you could come in too steep into the
Earth's atmosphere and burn up I would
have rather have done that we now show a
velocity of 3200 10 ft per
second did you allow yourselves to have
those emotional discussions did anybody
start talking about family and what if
what if we don't make it
back to ourselves we thought about
family not to each other you didn't
bring that up we no uh we did not bring
that up uh and we we did not because we
did not want to get emotionally uh
Disturbed or challenged from the job
that we had to
do but for the families there was no
other job you wanted life to go on as
normal but in your heart it couldn't
have been anything close to normal no
friends of mine told me that I was in a
days
really the house was packed and I just
had to be by myself and I I just left
everyone and I got into the bathroom and
I kneeled on the tile floor and prayed
it was much worse for the level kids at
school and everybody came up to me and
said I'm so sorry your dad's going to
Die April 14th 21 hours after the
explosion the crippled ship rounded did
The Far Side of the Moon in the midst of
this incredibly tense and stressful
flight where in in many ways this crew
was fighting for their lives you got to
see something you'd never seen before
what was that experience
like uh well it it was obviously uh to
me great to have the opportunity to even
just loop around the Moon Jack uh and I
did a lot of sightseing as we went
around the backside loville who had
already circled the moon in Apollo 8 got
a little impatient with all the photos
his Shipmates were taking and I told him
if they you know if we don't get back
you're not going to get them developed
you are basically running a barebones
operation at that time you are shutting
down everything you can because
everything aboard that module drains
power and you need all the power you can
you can save exactly right and we had a
turn off all the electrical systems and
that's when the temperature kept
dropping
we'd like you to uh go down that power
down procedure we knew it was going to
get as cold as a meat locker inside that
spacecraft so in other words you're
saying look guys you're going to be cold
and thirsty and hungry for 4 days but
you're going to go through that because
if we do anything else that you're not
getting home that's
[Music]
correct so how cold did you get it was
about the temperature of your
refrigerator it got pretty Mis but we
had uh got out of storage all our spare
underwear so we had three sets of
underwear on what about food how much
food did you have we didn't eat much
food uh we and the water was freezing
and the food was getting Frozen
too too cold to eat too cold to sleep I
found out that I could be in front of
the instrument panel put my fingers
together close my eyes and for about 3
minutes be asleep wake up refreshed and
so that's essentially the actually the
sleep that we got on the way home April
15th 30 hours after the explosion
something else threatened to kill them
something they couldn't even see in
layman's terms your own
exhalation the fact that the three of
you breathing out were creating so much
carbon dioxide that it was going to kill
you that's that's absolutely correct
remember the lunar module was only
designed to support two men for 2 days
it's air purifiers were maxed out the
dead Command Module was still attached
they could get more filters there but
they were the wrong shape square and
wouldn't fit the round openings in the
limb and of course it's a big
engineering goof that we didn't have the
same canister for both sides we got to
come up with the solution here Engineers
had to design an adapter literally make
a square peg fit in a round hole they
had to do it quickly and they could only
use what was on the spacecraft part of a
flight manual plastic bags duct tape
they did a mockup of it down on the
ground in Houston and then they told you
basically how to do it and you must have
thought they were crazy yeah they said
now take three feet of duct tape and and
we said what 3 ft they said yeah an arms
length of duct
[Music]
tape the Strang looking Contraption
worked it saved their lives and for two
more days cold hungry Sleepless the
three astronauts hunker down and wield
their way home at some point Mission
Control instructed you to stop sending
your urine out of the spacecraft and
some people might think that's the
ultimate indignity these guys are in a
tough enough straight as it is what was
the reason for that well what they said
was we don't want any unbalanced force
on the vehicles because we want to get
you back in that free return course for
a safe approach through the atmosphere
and the landing on the earth so when you
expel urine it would change the course a
little bit it's like a little rocket
engine so now you've got bags of urine
floating around in in the spacecraft as
well yeah TR try to figure out where to
put that they all but stopped drinking
water dehydration set in Fred Hayes soon
developed an infection and fever that
was all bad but now even as Earth loomed
in the window there was yet another
crisis they call up and said we've
extrapolated your course all the way
back to the Earth and you're going to
miss the atmosphere you were drifting
Yeah by 60 or 80 nautical miles which
meant although they didn't say it is
that hey you're
[Music]
gone nearly 4 days after the crippling
explosion as Apollo 13 Against All Odds
seemed about to make it home Mission
Control discovered something potentially
devastating the spacecraft was drifting
off the trajectory was drifting off and
we didn't understand what was happening
Apollo 13 was going to come in too
shallow bounce off the Earth's
atmosphere and be lost forever we have
to perform another emergency
maneuver the engineers calculated the
precise Direction and amount of Rocket
thrust needed to correct the course then
the crew had to make it happen firing
the Rockets manually steering by by
sighting the Earth and Moon Through the
Windows nobody had ever done that before
this was a team effort right I mean
you're you're handling one aspect trying
to keep the Earth from moving up and
down and Fred Hayes was going you know
to keep it from going sideways and
course he's sick at this time and Jack
is timing it uh because our clock had
stopped of
course were you worried at all Jean that
after all they had been through over
those 3 or 4 days the the cold the Sleep
day deprivation the tension and the
stress that they may just make a simple
mistake that they simply weren't up to
the task of getting home no no this is
the kind of relationship that we must
have with our crew the crew totally
depends upon us to come up the right
answers we depend upon them to provide
the information to execute so so this
Rel relationship is absolute absolute
trust is really the key go for the burn
bur 40% and the crew made the tricky
maneuver like they done it a thousand
times I say that was a good burn Friday
April 17th just hours from Earth now the
astronauts needed to get back into the
Command Module it had been shut down
Frozen for days Engineers on the ground
were working feverishly on a way to
start it up again okay systems
test we went through four different
versions of this checklist we have a
procedure for getting power from the
lamb not a very long procedure and I got
a little testing and I said look at give
us the proper information no more no
less it was a critical time normally The
Command Module was powered up before
launch when electricity was unlimited
never had a Command Module been shut
down in flight then restarted with just
battery power if the batteries died so
would the crew and you talk about this
procedure over 500 steps and they had to
then radio those steps and they had to
be written down one after the other we
had no blank paper so we had to rip
covers and backs off of
checklist and use that uh to write this
checklist which was very lengthy now
checklist in hand three cold hungry
Sleepless men had to execute it
perfectly okay uh you're go to start
Ping up the Command Module right now the
Command Module did come fully up uh you
know fully fully powered up S relief
there I mean that's your that's your
ride home it it was a ride home ready or
not back in the Command Module now less
than 5 hours from Earth the crew
jettisoned the part of the spacecraft
that exploded and nearly killed the mall
copy that service module separation at
138 hours 2 minutes 8
[Music]
seconds for the very first time they
could see just how bad the damage was as
it floated away finally just in front of
us we saw that the entire panel had been
blown
out and there's one whole side of that
stre right by the high gate antenna the
whole panel is blown out almost from the
uh base to the engine and that had to
set off some fears in this room that
that explosion also damaged the heat
shield on the Command Module cuz they
sit right next to each other and would
they be able to survive re-entry in our
line of business you only worry about
those things that you can do something
about so all the things you had done for
the 4 days prior all the heroic efforts
of everyone would have been for not had
there been a major flaw in that heat
shield it just wouldn't have matter
that's right there's nothing we could do
about it never could go outside to
repair it or anything like that so we
just we just took it for granted that
the heat shield was going to be intact
next they jettison the limb their
Lifeboat which they nicknamed Aquarius
fwell Aquarius thank you it was time
Marilyn you you seem like a a tough gal
um however there had to be times when
you went over in your mind how you would
tell the kids if it didn't turn out well
actually I really don't believe I really
thought about it because I really didn't
give up I just knew he would come
back it had been in the moon mission
people ignored and now the whole world
was watching couldn't breathe and we all
just sat there and we just held our
breath and we held it with the
world Apollo 13 plunged into the Earth's
atmosphere on Friday April 17th after
nearly 6 days in space during re-entry
the 5,000 de Fireball surrounding the
ship blacked out all radio Transmissions
the crew is now on their own there are
no more give backs the black out was
expected to last 4 minutes standing by
for any reports of acquisition and
there's no
response and we call again it's now one
minute since we should have heard from
this crew Apollo 13 should be uh out of
blackout at this time every controller
in this room is standing staring at
those clocks in the
wall 1 minute and 27 seconds after we
should have heard from the crew we get R
Hope Houston standing by
over okay we read you Jack and the
emotional release in this room is so
intense that literally every controller
is standing
crying Apollo 13 is practically on the
time when that spacecraft splashed down
and water came over the over the
windows I said hey we're
[Music]
home
were there handshakes in the capsule
were there tears what was going on in
there it was just quiet that we we we
shook each other's hand and we said hey
we made it again capsule was still cold
even after entry um Smoky air crossed
the air poured out of the hatch when the
the diver opened the hatch and the crew
that had been living in a meat
locker is finally out in the warm air of
the South Pacific and they are home and
they are alive what was the first thing
you said to Marilyn when you got back to
Earth I said you can't live without
me you can't get rid of me that easy
that's
right but here are the facts of Apollo
13 to this day 40 years later no human
beings have ever ventured farther from
home and to this day no astronauts have
overcome so many disasters large and
small to make it back
[Music]
alive
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