The Flight of Apollo 13: 50 Years Later
The Flight of Apollo 13 began April 11, 1970 — exactly 50 years ago. This is the story of history's most “successful failure.”
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, on the third mission designed to put human beings on the face of the Moon. Less than six minutes into the mission, things began to go wrong.
For six days, engineers and scientists around the globe raced to save the crew of Apollo 13: John Swigert, Fred Haise and Commander James Lovell, who had previously orbited the Moon during Apollo 8. The astronauts performed admirably, ensuring their survival and the (unfortunately short) Apollo program. Using technology and ingenuity, teams on Earth and aboard the damaged craft snatched victory from the hands of near-certain defeat.
Trouble began for Apollo 13 before the flight ever left the ground. A few days before takeoff, backup lunar module pilot Charles Duke accidentally exposed the crew to German measles. Command module pilot Ken Mattingly had no immunity to the disease, and he was replaced by John Swigert.
Tests conducted on the ground also suggested possible problems with a poorly-insulated helium tank onboard the Aquarius lunar module (LM) used to ferry astronauts to the Moon. This tank, originally installed on the capsule used for Apollo 10, was moved for…
