A month prior to take-off It’s been less than a year since the US
put a man on the moon, and astronaut Neil Armstrong said those words, “That's one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The US wants to do it again and perhaps have an astronaut say, “This is another small
step for man.”
Although, admittedly, it won’t be the same kind of leap for mankind.”
That shows how little interest the US public is paying to the Apollo 13 mission.
When Apollo 11 took off on July 16, 1969, the entire world was watching.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins would become household names for many years
to come.
The images of them walking on the moon would forever be implanted in people’s minds,
and when Armstrong said, “The eagle has landed,” people all over the globe were
half-baked on beer at their house parties, celebrating as if they’d just won the lottery.
Things were not exactly the same when the Apollo 13 mission was announced.
If you’d have picked up a newspaper in 1970, you’d have had to turn a fair few pages
to read about the mission.
It seemed that the hard-to-please public was not that impressed with space flight anymore,
and you can bet that not many people knew the names of the astronauts: James A. Lovell
Jr., John L. Swigert Jr. and Fred W. Haise Jr.
But while the US public is less interested in these guys at this point in time, their
mission is about to break new ground.
People will flock together in their living rooms again, but there won’t be much of
a party atmosphere this time.
That’s because something terrible was about to happen.
It has to be said, though, that the mission's horrific nature will make people interested
in space flight again.
Hour Zero As the crew is readying for take-off, the
families and relatives of all three men are excited but nervous.
The astronaut Jack Swigert shouldn’t even be there.
He’s just replaced another astronaut due to the other guy coming down with rubella,
aka German measles.
This is the first thing that has gone wrong.
Swigert at least doesn’t have a wife at home or any children to worry about.
That can’t be said for Fred Haise, who, like Swigert, has never been into space before.
Haise’s 9-year-old son, Stephen, doesn’t quite understand the implications of what
his daddy is doing, although his pregnant wife certainly is feeling the pressure.
In a few days from now, she’s going to be rubbing that bump on her stomach, wondering
if, in years to come, she’s going to have to explain to this child why she never talked
her husband out of going on that mission.
After all, she’s well aware of the dangers involved in sending humans into space.
What she doesn’t know is that they are traveling in what is essentially a bomb.
As for the commander of the mission, Jim Lovell, you could say he has more to lose than everyone.
He has four kids with his high-school sweetheart, Marilyn.
Their daughter Barbara is 17, and she understands the gravity of the situation.
Pun intended.
Their son James is 15, Susan is 12 and Jeffrey is just 4.
The entire family will soon hear that their beloved husband and father might freeze to
death or die slowly as his oxygen runs out.
It’s going to be a hellish few days for all of them.
Everyone except the 4-year-old knows what happened in February 1967, when Apollo One,
supposed to be the first spacecraft flown into space with the intention of landing on
the moon, didn’t quite get there.
All three men were incinerated in the cabin during a launch rehearsal.
With space flight, there are literally a million things that can go wrong, perhaps no more
devastatingly exemplified than in the 1986 space disaster when seven US astronauts died
just 73 seconds after take-off.
In short, the families of these three men in Apollo 13 are proud as hell, but right
now, their nerves are as frayed as Charles Manson’s mind.
Hour One Their Saturn V rocket they are sitting in
at the Kennedy Space Center is about to take off.
Mission control does the countdown.
“10, 9, 8…ignition sequence has started…6,5,4,3,2,1,0…and…we have lift off.”
The time is 2.13 EST.
Destination: the moon, or more specifically, the Fra Mauro crater area.
200,000 people who’ve come to watch the lift-off feel the ground shake as the 160,000,000
horsepower beast leaves for the skies.
That’s not a bad turnout, but nothing compared to the two million that were there when Apollo
11 lifted off.
People watching the event on television hear Mission Control say, “The Saturn 5, building
up to 7.6 million pounds of thrust, has cleared the tower.”
Another voice says, “This is mission control Houston; we appear to have a good first stage
at this point.”
People are told that the trajectory is looking just fine as the rocket powers on.
Mission control lets them know that 1.2 miles into the sky, the spacecraft is traveling
at 1,500 feet per second.
At home, the men’s families jump for joy, but they don't know that something isn’t
quite right up there.
At about five and a half minutes, the center engine of the S-II stage shuts down.
This isn’t good at all.
It shut down two minutes early.
It means that the remaining four engines have to burn 34 seconds longer than has been planned
and that the S-IVB third stage engine has to burn nine seconds longer.
That all has to happen for Apollo 13 to get into orbit.
Mission Control isn’t happy, but everyone knows that there will always be something
that doesn’t go exactly to plan.
They’re just hoping that this little glitch will be the worst thing that happens on the
mission.
It’s not; not by a long shot, but the next few hours and the hours after are all smooth
sailing for the crew and ground control.
Hour 30
The three astronauts are fooling around, talking about their appearance while doing a bit of
facial grooming.
Jack Swigert makes a joke, saying something along the lines of, “Hello to all the girls.”
The mood is good among the men.
They are told some golf scores, and then Jack goes into detail about how they get rid of
their pee in the spacecraft.
This transmission is between the guys and what’s called the CapCom, or the Capsule
Communication - the astronauts on Earth who keep in touch with the crew all the time.
They take the CapCom job in shifts.
Hour 46 Nothing major is happening right now.
At some point, a guy named Joe Kerwin, who’s the main capsule communicator at this point,
reports, “The spacecraft is in real good shape as far as we are concerned.
We're bored to tears down here.”
Just after he says that, the master alarm sounds and scares the hell out of everyone.
It’s a false alarm though.
The guys then listen to a song as Kerwin winds them up by sarcastically telling them space
looks great and that they have “all the comforts of home.”.
He is well aware that space travel is extremely uncomfortable.
Hour 47 The crew talks about a problem with the hydrogen
tank, after which they discuss changing their flight plan.
There’s also a problem with the Command Module, but it’s nothing to write home about.
The mission is still going according to plan.
Hour 52 The new CapCom guy, Vance Brand, jokes with
the crew.
Everything looks normal, so they can afford to kid around.
Right now they’re traveling at 2,323.4 mph (3,739.1 km/h) and are about 170,000 miles
(273,000 km) from where they took off.
Hour 55 Things are so under control that the crew
starts a live TV broadcast for the folks back on Earth.
As interesting as this should be, quite a lot of TV stations are not even showing it.
It’s as if people just aren’t interested in space anymore.
Haise tells the people at home how they sleep and how they drink water.
The guys tease each other as they always seem to do, and then they put on the song, “Willow
Weep for Me.”
They are making space travel look like a walk in the park, albeit something you wouldn’t
want to do if you were claustrophobic.
At 55 hours and 45 minutes, Haise goes up behind Lovell with a repress valve, scaring
the hell out of him.
Lovells tells the new CapCom, “Every time he does that, my hearts jumps into my mouth.”
It’s at this point that the TV transmission ends.
Lovell is the one who signs off, telling people back home, “This is the crew of Apollo 13
wishing everybody there a nice evening, and we're just about ready to close out our inspection
of Aquarius and get back for a pleasant evening in Odyssey.
Good night.”
Aquarius is the lunar module, and Odyssey is the command module.
We’ll talk more about this soon.
The people down on Earth have just witnessed what looks like a bunch of very smart men
acting like teenage kids, pranking and teasing each other all the time.
It seems to them that space travel isn’t frightening at all.
Hour 56 The crew has just heard an explosion.
It sounded like someone hitting a large piece of metal, followed by a crinkling sound, like
someone squashing a rather large can of Coke.
This is when Swigert says, “Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.”
They look at the oxygen tanks and fuel cells; what they see is alarming.
Oxygen tank two has little to nothing in it, and oxygen tank one looks like it’s about
to run out.
Mission control responds by saying this is likely not what’s happening.
They say the gauge readings might just be faulty.
Lovell explains that he is pretty sure he can see gas leaking out of the hatch.
It’s not quite panic stations time yet, but something is wrong, and it doesn’t seem
to be a minor something like the earlier issues.
This is serious.
Lovell says, “We're venting something out into space.
It's a gas of some sort.”
What they don’t know just yet is that there has been a short circuit in oxygen tank 2,
which basically ignited a bomb.
It exploded when Swigert started what’s called the “stir” - which stirs the contents
of the tank - and this caused a 13-foot (3.9-meter) panel to blow off the service module.
The two main parts of the Apollo spacecraft are the command module and the service module.
The command module is where the cabin is and where the crew lives.
It’s where much of the equipment is and where many controls and displays are.
This is a cone shape.
The service module is where they store lots of equipment, but it’s also where they get
propulsion from and electrical power.
It’s shaped like a cylinder.
They are both connected by a kind of umbilical cord.
As for what’s gone wrong, it will become known that there was a design error.
You see, the command and service modules were supposed to operate at 28 volts.
But years before those guys took off when tests were happening at the Kennedy Space
Center, it was decided that 65 volts would be better.
So, engineers were told to redesign the components to run at both levels of voltage.
So far, so good, but the problem was the oxygen tanks.
These are not only for the men to breathe but to help run the fuel cells that give power
to all the spacecraft’s systems.
In short, there is a thermostat in those oxygen tanks to ensure that the temperature inside
them is regulated, but the company that made the thermostats had not gotten the memo about
the new voltage change.
This might not have been such a big issue if it weren’t for the fact that during the
design stage of the tanks, someone had dropped tank number 2.
But as it didn’t seem damaged and did fine during further tests, it ended up going to
space with the other tanks.
Nonetheless, after it had been put inside Apollo 13, it wouldn’t empty during some
other tests.
That’s because when it had been dropped, the instrument that did the emptying had been
damaged.
Technicians managed to find a way to make things right, but by doing so, they heated
the tank up so much that some of the insulated wires were damaged.
If that makes little sense to you, don’t worry, you can’t all be rocket scientists.
All you really need to know is that Apollo 13 left the Earth with an unstable tank inside
of it, making it a flying bomb.
When Swigert was ordered by mission control to stir the contents of the tank by hitting
the stir button, what he or no one else could have known was that the previously damaged
insulation wiring caused a spark.
We don’t need to tell you that a spark inside an oxygen tank is generally not a good thing.
The oxygen fed the fire, and the pressure became so much that the tank exploded, wrecking
not just it but many of the other things inside the service module.
The three astronauts were now 200,000 miles from home in a spacecraft that was missing
some of its vital parts.
Hour 56 The CapCom, now Jack Lousma, tells the crew
that the other oxygen tank is leaking badly.
He tells them, “It is slowly going to zero, and we are starting to think about the LM
lifeboat.”
Swigert replies, “That's what we have been thinking about, too.”
Ok, we should explain something else.
The LM means Lunar Module.
This is the part of the spacecraft that is supposed to ferry the astronauts to the moon.
It’s connected to the command and service modules.
It was the part of Apollo 11 that you saw sitting on the moon… or landed in a movie
production studio for some wild-eyed people.
In this case, the astronauts are thinking they could use it as a kind of lifeboat.
It’s never been done before, but hey, without electricity they will either freeze to death
up there and without oxygen they will slowly move towards that thing we call brain death.
The mission is aborted.
It’s now time to think about getting home.
But with so little power, they have to power down the command module.
It will get very cold in there soon.
Even though escaping in a lifeboat doesn’t sound too safe, the astronauts seem to be
taking it all in their stride.
They later say that they weren’t thinking about death but just getting the job done.
Much more is about to go wrong, though.
Hour 58 Lovell jokingly tells mission control that
he wasn’t expecting to return to Earth so soon.
No one laughs.
His wife is now at home worried out of her mind.
She’s been informed about the problems, and she knows he and the others have to make
an emergency return.
It’s fortunate for the men that the explosion didn’t happen on the way back home because
then there wouldn’t have been a lunar module to use.
They all would have died, without a doubt.
But even now, things are looking grim.
No one has ever tried anything like this before.
Hour 59 The crew makes their way to the Lunar Module,
given that they now only have 15 minutes to get out of the Command Module.
The power is almost gone, and no power means death.
Haise and Lovell float through the tunnel to the Lunar Module while Swigert stays behind
to ensure everything is turned off.
There are a few things they have to bear in mind.
The Lunar Module is only supposed to have a 45-hour lifetime but they need at least
90 hours.
They should have enough oxygen, and even if the tanks run out, there are two backpacks
full of oxygen that were supposed to be used for walking on the moon.
There are also backup packs of oxygen for those packs.
Food is a concern, or lack thereof, but water and temperature are a much bigger concern.
They don't have much of either.
Still, if they don’t power down, they won’t have the power to get back to Earth.
That’s why all non-critical functions are turned off.
Hour 61 It seems the men are in good spirits.
Lousma, who’s still on the CapCom, teases Lovell, telling him not to worry; this is
all just a training exercise.
Hour 67 The men are informed that President Nixon
has been told about what’s going on.
Mission control is currently in talks with the White House.
When Nixon is asked if he will listen to updates, he responds with, “Yeh, go ahead and throw
it to me.”
Hour 68 Press conferences are held, and the general
public now knows there’s been an explosion, and the astronauts have no choice but to come
back.
It’s about this time that Lovell is heard saying there probably won’t be a lunar mission
for a long time.
Another major problem is the course they are going to take.
They were supposed to land on the moon and then go home.
Going straight back was never on anyone’s mind.
The command module navigational platform has been transferred to the Lunar Module, but
that doesn’t mean they can easily verify where they are.
They believe the Service Propulsion System on the command module that could have thrust
them back is now broken, so they decide to go around the moon and come back that way,
rather than just thrust back.
They are literally going to swing around the moon.
Space isn’t the kind of place you can just do a U-turn, so this is the better option.
They have the Lunar Module’s Descent Propulsion System, but the crew and ground control now
have to make a lot of difficult calculations.
It’s fortunate that before Lovell left the command module, he copied down all the important
information from the module’s guidance system.
They will need to do another burn once they are around the moon.
If they aren’t able to do this for some reason, they’ll go on a different trajectory
and miss the earth by thousands of miles.
Also, when they do that flight around the moon, they will have no contact with the people
on Earth, but the good news is, during this quiet time, they look out of the windows in
awe, snapping pictures like space tourists.
Hour 79 It’s now or never.
NASA has chosen a four-minute burn, which will shave 12 hours off of the flight and
hopefully land them in the Pacific Ocean.
Hour 80 Lovell’s family is at home, now joined by
the astronauts Pete Conrad, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong.
Hour 81 Lovell talks about food and water again.
The crew decides that their best chance of surviving is if they consume 1/5 of their
normal intake.
They will eat hot dogs and wet-pack food.
They know they will become severely dehydrated, but there’s nothing they can do about that.
They can only drink just 0.2 liters of water a day if they want to make it back home alive.
The entire crew will lose a total of 31.5 pounds on this return trip.
Haise even develops a urinary tract infection.
The men have already decided not to drink their pee or even throw it into space.
They put it in bags, believing that they could upset their trajectory if they throw it out.
Hour 82 The men are freezing.
It’s now 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 C).
It’s dark, and they are hungry and thirsty.
They think about putting on their spacesuits, but that will make them too hot, so they just
use anything they can find to cover themselves.
They also slip on their lunar boots, which at least warms up their feet.
Hour 85 During a press conference, NASA explains that
it’s worried about what consumables are left and says the rest of the journey is “not
going to be comfortable at all.”
Hour 90 Perhaps to cheer the guys up, the new CapCom
asks Swigert about the new income tax rule when you’re out of the country for a certain
amount of time.
It’s just a joke and helps with the men’s morale.
Hour 93 The lunar module is only supposed to carry
two people.
What that means is the canisters inside it that absorb gas in the air won’t absorb
enough of it.
This could lead to a dangerous build-up of carbon dioxide.
It doesn’t help that the command module uses square canisters, but the lunar module
uses round canisters.
So, they can’t take the canisters from the command module and put them in the lunar module.
This is a matter of life or death.
The men put their heads together, and with the help of ground control, they build new
canisters out of plastic bags, cardboard, bits from a lunar suit, and a bunch of tape.
It works.
The Co2 levels go right down.
Hour 118 Lovells asks about the re-entry procedure.
The reply is, “Roger that, we are trying to get the procedures to you right now.”
It will be a few hours before they get the timeline and sequence of events that are going
to happen.
Lovell waits a minute and explains that he’s not a happy man.
He has just found some hotdogs, but it’s so cold that they’ve frozen.
What’s important here is that when they try and power the command module back up for
re-entry, it will be a completely unique operation.
There are no procedures for this since no one ever thought such a thing would happen.
It takes a lot of effort and a lot of brains to figure out how to proceed with the re-entry.
Staff on the ground work through the night running the simulators to better understand
how to perform the re-entry.
As NASA says at a press conference, they’ve tried to run everything they’ve asked the
crew to do through their simulators, everything that is “non-normal,” says NASA.
Back in space, the men have thrown away the rule book, so to speak.
They’ve never powered down a command module in space, and they never powered one back
up either.
They need it to re-enter since the lunar module will burn up on re-entry as it doesn’t have
a heat shield.
It also isn’t built for landing in the ocean.
Hour 123 Mission Control gives Lovell the green light
to fully power up the Lunar Module.
This will raise the cabin temperature and also restart the Lunar Module’s guidance
computer.
Hour 125 Lovell says they now have no water left.
That’s not good, but he has to grit his teeth and listen to the reentry checklist.
Soon after, he tells the other two guys what’s going to happen.
Hour 132 Swigert tells the new CapCom guy that it’s
too cold to get any sleep.
He’s very tired now and thirsty, but no one is complaining.
He just hopes they will get home.
Hour 138 The damaged service module is jettisoned.
This is when they see just how much damage was done during that explosion for the first
time.
All the men realize how lucky they are to be alive.
Minutes later, Swigert thanks mission control.
Many calculations had to be made in quick time to ensure the module left them, and they
were able to thrust out of its way.
This wasn’t easy by any stretch.
Hour 141 The lunar module is just about to be jettisoned.
They’ve waited for this, knowing that if it's not literally blown off at the right
time and at the right angle, they might hit the ocean and skip like a stone.
A mistake here could also mean a very fiery entry, or as Lovell said years later, “burning
up like a meteor.”
Down below, the US navy is waiting to pick the guys up.
Hour 142 The public is now glued to their TVs, not
just in the US but all over the world.
This has been some trip, a drama of the highest order.
Talk about reinvigorating people’s interest in space flight.
It’s actually a good day for NASA in terms of marketing.
That is if the guys get back in one piece.
The men land in the Pacific without any problems.
The world cheers so hard that the thing nearly falls off its axis.
Mission control tells the guys, “Welcome Home.”
What’s more, even with a partly destroyed mother ship, their splash down becomes the
second most accurate in the Apollo program.
Hour 143 President Nixon, Tricky Dick to some, gets
on the line to Lovell.
He asks, “Are you on the liner alone?
Are the other fellas on, too?”
“Yes, sir,” says Lovell.
Nixon says, “Getting elected as president was the biggest day of my life, but this one
was bigger.”
He tells them they will all get a medal of freedom.
It’s a good day for the astronauts and a good day for Nixon’s image.
Lovell apologizes for not completing the mission, but Nixon rightly reminds him that they did
something even better: They did something that has never been done before.
Even so, Lovell is more concerned about his family back home.
That’s what really matters.
He’d figured that much out when he was hurtling through space.
Now you need to educate yourself a bit more with “50 Surprising Facts About Space You
Didn't Know.”
Or, have a look at…