Apollo 13
by Marci RanzerInformation about the Mission
Apollo 13 was man’s fifth Lunar mission. April 11, 1970 was the day the shuttle launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Unfortunately, on April 13, the Apollo 13 space mission experienced threatening complications. Apollo 13 had started as a mission of scientific exploration. It was now a matter of survival.
The Apollo 13 crew consisted of three men; Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert. Jim Lovell was commander of the Apollo 13 mission and veteran of three previous missions. He had orbited the Moon Christmas 1968 on Apollo 8. Fred Haise was the Lunar Module Pilot and it was his first time in space. Jack Swigert, was the Command Module Pilot who three days before the flight was on the backup group. Swigert replaced Ken Mattingly. Ken Mattingly had been dropped from the Apollo 13 mission because he had been exposed to the measles. He watched the launch from Houston’s Mission Control.
Only two days after launch day, the Apollo 13 shuttle experienced a severe power supply malfunction. The Spacecraft was badly damaged by an explosion that caused the Service Module section of the Apollo Command/Service Module to lose its oxygen as well as electrical power. The Apollo 13 accident had occurred 200,000 miles from Earth. The Command Module was dead except for the oxygen and power hoarded for reentry. To get into the correct orbit around the Moon, the crew had burned out of the trajectory that would automatically bring them back to Earth. They would have to get back onto a safe course toward Earth. The Apollo 13 crew began to fear that they would never make it home.
James Lovell, the Apollo 13 mission commander spoke the following:
“This maneuver again was completed on time and because there was a manual burn we had a three-man operation. Jack would take care of the time. He’d tell us when to write off the engine, when to stop it. Fred handled the pitch maneuver. I handled the roll maneuver and I pushed the buttons to start and stop the engines.”
Because power needed to be saved for re-entry into the earth, the crew survived by using the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) still attached to the Command Service Module (CSM) as their lifeboat; solving their first problem. However, there were still many other problems to be solved. From a building at Houston’s Manned Spacecraft Center, systems experts coordinated the coast-to-coast effort to get the crew back. One of the big problems was consumables. There would be enough to eat and drink. But in space there are other factors; oxygen to breathe, electrical power to keep the spacecraft alive, water to cool the equipment and keep it operating.
The astronauts faced yet another problem, their own exhaled breath. The lithium hydroxide chemical to take carbon dioxide out of the air was not sufficient in a Lunar Module. They would have to adapt the canisters from the Command Module to fit the hoses in the LEM. On the ground, an adapter was fashioned from materials the crew had available in the LEM - cardboard from a checklist, plastic bags and tape. To conserve the electric power and cooling water, the crew shut down all but the vital life-sustaining the systems of the Lunar Excursion Module.
There was a key decision to be made before Apollo 13 went behind the Moon - where to bring them down. Their present course would take them to the Indian Ocean, where recovery would be difficult. A burn to bring them home quicker would take them to the Pacific Ocean near the Recovery Forces. Bringing them home even faster, would place them in the South Atlantic, again away from Recovery Forces. It was decided to take them to the Pacific.
Reentry required undocking the lunar module, which had been retained for the flight back to Earth, in addition to the separation of the damaged service module. The lunar module had remained attached to the spacecraft to safeguard the maximum electrical power in the command module for entry.
Although none of the primary Apollo 13 mission objectives were accomplished and the mission was required to terminate after only 56 hours, re-entry into the Earth’s surface was a success. Fortunately all three of the Apollo 13 crew members returned to Earth safely on April 17, 1970.
