curiousa2z
Be patient till the last.
1970 : Apollo 13 returns to Earth
With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft
that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely
returns to Earth.
On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L.
Swigert, and Fred W. Haise.
The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon,
circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.
The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical
problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as
providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful
reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and
Apollo 13's course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested
maneuvers. On April 17, trepedition turned to triumph as the Apollo 13
astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft
that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely
returns to Earth.
On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L.
Swigert, and Fred W. Haise.
The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon,
circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.
The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical
problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as
providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful
reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and
Apollo 13's course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested
maneuvers. On April 17, trepedition turned to triumph as the Apollo 13
astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
