Summary of Apollo 13

The Apollo 13 moon mission was launched on April 11, 1970 at 13:13 CST (Central Standard Time) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The main mission was to explore a widespread, hilly geological area called Fra Mauro formation, named after a crater known as Fra Mauro, which was 80 kilometers in diameter. The mission crew consisted of three people; Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module Pilot John L. Swigert, and Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise.

Two days after the launch, an electrical problem in one of the Service Module's oxygen tanks, caused an explosion that led to failure of the oxygen tanks and loss of electrical power. The Command Module, however, continued to be functional, as it had its own battery power and oxygen tanks. As these were designed to be used only during the last hours of the mission, the Command Module was shut down and the Lunar Module was used as a "lifeboat" on their return trip to the Earth. In spite of many problems like loss of cabin heat, limited power, and shortage of potable water, the crew made their way back home successfully. The words by the commander, James Lovell, to the mission control center at Houston, "Houston, we've had a problem." have been immortalized in a number of movies.

During the course of the mission, the quantity gauge of the oxygen tank 2 showed an abnormally high reading (over 100%), perhaps because of the damaged internal insulation. To increase the accuracy of the quantity readings, mission control asked the crew of Apollo 13 to stir the hydrogen and oxygen tanks. This task, when carried out, caused the damaged insulation of the Teflon wires to short-circuit and resulted in an explosion of one of the oxygen tanks on the Service Module. This occurred en route to the moon, at a distance of about 200,000 miles from Earth. The fire resulting from the explosion spread quickly causing the tank dome to fail. The contents leaked for hours and depleted almost all the Service Module's supply of oxygen. During the time of the tragedy, the cause of the explosion wasn't known. The crew, at first, thought that a meteoroid had struck the Service Module, which led them to shut down the Service Module completely, and use the Lunar Module as a "lifeboat" to return to Earth. While this scenario was suggested to the astronauts in earlier trainings, it was considered as an improbable or unlikely situation.

The damages to the Service Module made landing impossible. After extensive discussions with the control center, it was decided to bring the crew safely back to Earth, by returning to a free return trajectory with the Lunar Module's descent propulsion system. The descent engine was fired twice, once to speed the return, and later, for a minor course correction. A lot of courage and ingenuity under tough conditions was required by the crew, the flight controllers, and the support personnel. Limited power made voice communication worsen with each passing minute. The Lunar Module's consumables could last for, and sustain only two people for two days, not three people for four days. Hence, to conserve power, the Lunar Module was powered down to its lowest level.

Had the problem had taken place on the return trip, or while landing at the lunar surface, it would have been impossible for the crew to survive, as the oxygen and the hydrogen levels would not be sufficient to support life. Although the mission was aborted, the lives of the crew members were saved, and therefore, the mission is sometimes referred to as a "successful failure". For their indomitable courage, the Apollo 13 Mission Operation Team was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The courage of the Apollo 13 Mission Operation Team was an inspiration to the world. Following the tragedy, many movies were made on the Apollo 13 mission. People also began to regard 13 as an unlucky number - the failed mission was called Apollo 13, and the problems on the module began on April 13, 1970. The command module of the Apollo 13 is currently on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Hutchison, Kansas.