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Apollo 13 Returned 43 Years Ago Today

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
April 17, 2013
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Apollo 13
“Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command Module depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to jury-rig the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17.”
Keith’s note: This invoice was sent by Grumman Management to North American Rockwell for charges associated with the Grumman LEM towing Rockwell’s CSM back to Earth. Larger image

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

3 responses to “Apollo 13 Returned 43 Years Ago Today”

  1. Steve Whitfield says:
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    Truly NASA’s finest hour.  The Apollo 13 crew coming home safely was just two inches short of a genuine miracle.  I wish Gene Kranz really had said, “failure is not an option.”  It’s a great line.

    • yokohama2010 says:
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      Something we agree about…

    • jkranz says:
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      I agree, on the “finest hour,” truly showed what can be done if you refuse to quit…some you win, some you lose…thankfully, they won!  Instead of the simple phrase, he conveyed the sentiments in a short, pep-rally speech to the flight control team, essentially conveying that they must all adopt the mindset that the crew was coming home…they needed to believe it, and the crew needed to believe it. “Failure…Option,” was Hollywood license and clever…the statement has served for many situations and programs, since.