Today is the Anniversary of the return of Apollo 13

[DrRoy]

Today is the 47th anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13, following the explosion of the oxygen tank in their service module that happened about 2 days into the mission. It was a remarkable feat of teamwork between the crew (Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise) and ground controllers that allowed them to survive the situation and get back to Earth. DW and I met Lovell and Haise at Spacefest VII. We had Lovell sign our copy of the photo Earthrise.

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[samclem]

Thanks. I was just a kid, but I remember the news coverage and dreading what might happen. A great outcome by a great team.
The Wikipedia piece on the mission is short, but pretty good. "Houston, we have a problem . . . " Pretty amazing how quickly they sorted things out, and how much "robustness" there was in a bunch of systems that needed to be as minimal and light as possible.

 

[Happyras]

Today is the 47th anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13, following the explosion of the oxygen tank in their service module that happened about 2 days into the mission. It was a remarkable feat of teamwork between the crew (Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise) and ground controllers that allowed them to survive the situation and get back to Earth. DW and I met Lovell and Haise at Spacefest VII. We had Lovell sign our copy of the photo Earthrise.

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Thanks for making us aware. When my wife was flying weightless experiments for NASA I was fortunate to meet several of my heros from NASA, Sam Pool (kinda instrumental in the fix on 13) joined us for dinner at our home and I got an earful of the realities of the missions and some interesting insights.....

 

[6miths]

Now I know why the movie was on last night!

 

[ERD50]

Now I know why the movie was on last night!

Great movie, and I really recommend also reading the book (Lost Moon). The movie and book really complement each other, there are things best for each media.

Lovell lives around the north shore area of Chicago, his son had a restaurant, or maybe still does, but I've never met him - he does appear at events from time to time.

-ERD50

 

[jjquantz]

For you real geeks, the mission transcript is at:

https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission_trans/AS13_PAO.PDF

"Hey, we've got a problem here." is on page 231 of 930 pages of transcript.

 

[samclem]

For you real geeks, the mission transcript is at:

https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/mission_trans/AS13_PAO.PDF

"Hey, we've got a problem here." is on page 231 of 930 pages of transcript.

Thanks, that was a lot of fun. Talk about some thorough knowledge of every detail of the systems and mission! It must have been quite a shock to everyone when the program ended and their heads were filled with info that was instantly irrelevant. "Hey, can I get my cerebral RAM cleaned out? I'd like to have room to remember my kid's name again."

The PAO obviously knew the mission cold, too, and was not some talking head hired for his/her hairdo.

 

[Car-Guy]

I worked with a guy in the 80's and 90's who had worked in mission control during the Apollo 13 (and other flights in that era). Pretty tense several days for all involved from what he told me. Of course, he was safe on the ground at the time so I suspect it was a little more tense for the astronauts trying to get home.

 

[jjquantz]

Thanks, that was a lot of fun. Talk about some thorough knowledge of every detail of the systems and mission! It must have been quite a shock to everyone when the program ended and their heads were filled with info that was instantly irrelevant. "Hey, can I get my cerebral RAM cleaned out? I'd like to have room to remember my kid's name again."

The PAO obviously knew the mission cold, too, and was not some talking head hired for his/her hairdo.

Glad you enjoyed it. I've read all of the Apollo mission transcripts and some of the earlier ones (that last year of w*rk was REALLY slow!). As you say, the level of knowledge is incredibly impressive - even to the level of the PAO. These people knew their stuff.

I find the transcripts more interesting than any of the films or documentaries that I've seen. But that probably says more about me than about the materials.

 

[DrRoy]

For all you space geeks out there (like me), I highly recommend the just released movie Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo. It can be rented through Amazon and will release on DVD/BD at the end of June. I saw a preview showing last year and it is amazing. I have many Apollo video programs/movies, and this may be the best.