On this day: Doomed Apollo 13 mission dubbed 'The Successful Failure' launched to the moon
When the excitement of the Apollo 13 launch waned, and the astronauts began to settle into a "routine" journey, capsule communicator Joe Kerwin said that the "spacecraft is in good shape" and that everyone in the control room in Houston was "bored to tears down here." Minutes later, an explosion of the No. 2 oxygen tank ended those feelings.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla - On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert on what would have been humanity’s third lunar landing, but the mission didn’t go as planned. Instead of landing on the moon, the world held its breath during what would become one of space exploration's most intense stories of survival.
At 2:13 p.m. (EST), April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The failure of the second stage’s J-2 engine was compensated by longer burns of both the remaining four J-2s and the third stage (S-IVB).
(NASA)
According to NASA, the success of Apollo 11 in July 1969 and the Apollo 12 missions gave many people the impression stat landing on the moon was not "almost routine in nature." Because of the Vietnam War, NASA said the public's attention was turning away from Apollo missions, and slashed budgets were threatening much of the remaining Apollo missions and eventually led to the cancelation of Apollo 18, 19 and 20.
Unlucky No. 13
The Apollo 13 mission was to be the third lunar landing in the program before an on board explosion forced the mission to circle the Moon without landing. This is the insignia of the Apollo 13 lunar landing mission. Represented in the Apollo 13 emblem is Apollo, the sun god of Greek mythology.
(NASA)
Many people were superstitious about the number 13, and NASA said there was some validity to those fears when a measles scare prompted the replacement of command module pilot Ken Mattingly with Jack Swigert.
And then, during the launch, the massive Saturn V rocket experienced an unexpected shutdown of one of the second stage's J-2 engines. However, NASA said burning the remaining four engines for an additional 34 seconds and the third stage for a further nine seconds was able to get Apollo 13 into the correct orbit.
But the series of unfortunate events were to continue.
When the excitement of the launch waned, and the astronauts began to settle into a "routine" journey, capsule communicator Joe Kerwin said that the "spacecraft is in good shape" and that everyone in the control room in Houston was "bored to tears down here."
Minutes later, an explosion of the No. 2 oxygen tank ended those feelings.
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‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’
Overall view showing some of the feverish activity in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston during the final 24 hours of the problem-plagued Apollo 13 mission. Here, flight controllers and several officials confer at the flight director's console.
(NASA)
NASA said as warning lights lit up the cabin and indicated that two of the three fuel cells were lost, the crew radioed, "Houston, we've had a problem."
When looking outside the command module Odyssey, Lovell said he noticed they were "venting something out into the… into space." That venting was the astronauts' lifeline - oxygen.
The crew found that the explosions in tank two also damaged tank one, which made use of the fuel cells impossible and threatened the eventual loss of all electrical power and water.
Now that landing on the moon was erased from the mission, the Apollo 13 astronauts and NASA personnel began to work around the clock to develop a plan to bring them back to Earth safely.
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Square peg in a round hole
An interior view of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) during the trouble-plagued journey back to Earth.
(NASA)
The lunar module, called Aquarius, became the headquarters for efforts to save the spacecraft and crew. According to NASA, Aquarius' full oxygen talk and descent engine were essential in keeping the Apollo 13 astronauts alive and returning them to Earth.
In addition to the water shortage and no electrical power, the crew also encountered dangerous carbon dioxide levels. NASA noted that plenty of lithium hydroxide canisters were designed to remove the gas from inside the spacecraft, but there was a problem. The canisters were square and not compatible with the round openings inside Aquarius.
This view of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) was photographed from the Command Module (CM) just after the LM had been jettisoned. The jettisoning occurred a few minutes before 11 a.m. (CST), April 17, 1970, just over an hour prior to splashdown of the CM in the south Pacific Ocean.
(NASA)
That's when NASA devised a plan for fitting a "square peg in a round hole."
On its way back to Earth, Apollo 13 had another problem - powering up the command module. Houston had three days to devise a plan to power up the command module after being inactive for so long. One of the major issues was the fear that all the condensation that had built up in the instruments would lead to a short circuit when the power was turned back on.
This view of the severely damaged Apollo 13 Service Module was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module following the jettison of the Service Module.
(NASA)
Fortunately, there was no issue when the power was turned back on. This is because of the lessons learned during the deadly Apollo 1 fire in January 1967. NASA said the disaster led to a significant redesign and increased insulation to protect the wiring better.
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Back on Earth
A perilous space mission comes to a smooth ending with the safe splashdown of the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM) in the South Pacific, only four miles from the prime recovery ship.
(NASA)
On April 17, 1970, the astronauts could say goodbyes to Aquarius, return to Odyssey and successfully return to Earth. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa.
NASA said that the lessons learned from the "successful failure" of Apollo 13 were quickly applied to the remaining Apollo missions and continue to guide safety and mission assurance at NASA to this day.