Liam Styles

Mr. Barrow
Honors World History
19 January 2016
Apollo 13
The Mission That Called Space Travel in to Question
After the highly successful Apollo 12 mission to the moon in November of
1969, NASA was eager to launch its seventh manned flight, and its third to land on
the moon. Apollo 13 was supposed to be scheduled to launch in July of 1969, just 9
months after the launch of Apollo 12. However, delays were inevitable and the
second launch date was scrubbed in March 1970 due to an oxygen tank problem.
This issues occurred because, Apollo 13s oxygen tank had already been used in a
previous Apollo mission and was damaged on reentry to earth. Launch was then
rescheduled for April 11, 1970.
The crew of Apollo 13 was made up of a crew of three astronauts. The
commander of the missions crew was James Lovell, Jr. This flight was commander
Lovells fifth and final mission. James Swigert Jr. served as command module pilot,
Swigert replaced James Mattingly who came down with measles one day before
Apollo 13s launch. This mission was James Swigert Jr.s first and only flight in
space. Fred Hoise, Jr. was part of the mission as the lunar module pilot. This mission
was Hoises first and last flight in space. The mission of Apollo 13 was to land in the
Fra Mauro Formation of the moon. This was a site that was of particular interest to
scientists because the Fra Mauro Formation is a widespread geographical area

around Mare Imbrium. Mare Imbrium is the largest recognizable impact structure
Moon, and is thought to be formed when Earth and the moon were being formed.
Apollo 13 launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970 at 2:13 pm.
During the launch the center engine of the 5-11 stage activated two minutes early.
That then caused the 5-IVB stage to burn nine seconds longer to place the Apollo 13
shuttle into orbit. After those minor hiccups in the launch the Apollo 13 mission was
going as planned until fifty-six hours in to the mission, when an oxygen tank
exploded that eventually caused the crew to abandon the shuttle. With that eras
modern technology scientists were able to discover what had gone wrong with the
shuttles oxygen tank. The tanks explosion was due to an electrical shortage which
caused the tanks pressure to slowly decrease and then increase in an alarmingly
fast rate. The next series of events happened seconds after the pressure
abnormality when a tank line burst due to heat which then caused the blow out
valve on the vacuum jacket to rupture. At the time of the explosion Apollo 13 was
200,000 miles from earth. The explosion interfered with the telemetry which
caused Mission Control in Houston to be unaware of any issues for several minutes.
Commander Lovell reported seeing particles of the explosion outside of the space
capsule. Approximately one and a half hours later, Mission Control told the
astronauts that they were thinking about the life boat, indicating that they wanted
to use the lunar module Aquarius as a means of escape. This interaction between
Commander Lovell and Mission Control is where one of the most famous sayings in
American history was coined, the infamous Houston we have a problem.
It was decided to use the lunar module Aquarius to return to earth.
However, the module was built to only support two crew members. Besides the
issue of having to squeeze another Astronaut into the module, many other issues

had to be addressed. The first issue that was apparent was the issue of getting rid
of the carbon dioxide that would accumulate in the module because of the extra
passenger. To avoid carbon dioxide poisoning of the crew members, scientists in
mission control of Kennedy Space Center instructed the crew members of Aquarius
how to build air filters from the limited supplies they had. The crew members had
to build air filters to protect them from carbon dioxide out of cardboard, plastic
bags, and duct tape. All of the materials were available to the crew members on
the spacecraft. The second issue that occurred was how the crew was going to get
Aquarius into a return trajectory for Earth. One again it was the scientists down in
Houston who were able to find a solution and develop a free trajectory course for
the module. The final issue that occurred was how Aquarius would touchdown.
Many scientists were debating where the module should land. Many problems had
to be addressed in this decision, the most important of those issues was the job of
landing safely and preserving enough electricity, heat, and oxygen for the
astronauts to survive to the landing. Heating did become an issue upon reentry as
the Aquarius fell below freezing temperatures. The integrity of the module for
reentry was also in question, could it be stable and survive landing? Finally, NASA
decided that reentry in the Pacific Ocean would be the best option for the
Astronauts survival.
Aquarius finally landing was one mile from USS Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean.
The landing was a success and all three the crew members survived safely. The
mission of Apollo 13 lasted a total of 142 hours and 54 minutes. The Astronauts
families waited an agonizing 6 days for their loved ones to return home. During
those six days the citizens of the United States of America rallied together and
supported the astronauts throughout their journey. The Astronauts of Apollo 13 and

the Mission Control team in Houston were awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. Along with their award the crew of Apollo 13 were awarded a plaque with
their name on it which they had at first intended to leave on the moon once they
landed. Commander Lovell took the plaque home as a souvenir for his family. All
involved in the mission were herald as heroes. Once the crew of Apollo 13 had
returned home some started to question whether NASA and Americas involvement
in space travel was still a good idea. With the love and support of American citizens,
instead of ending Nasas involvement in space travel the United States government
reinvigorated its determination of the countries involvement in space travel. With
the support of Nasas space program, they were able to do even more Apollo
missions.
Apollo 13 was just one story, but a very important one, in the Apollo program.
The Apollo program was seen as the United States entrance into the new frontier of
science and space exploration. With this program came domestic and international
prestige and influence. This program allowed the world to see the United States as
once again a leader in the worlds look to the stars for answers. The events of
Apollo 13 not only captivated the citizens of the United States but the population of
the world. Together they watched and waited for the events of Apollo 13 to unfold.
They rallied with the United States as it sought to find a way home for its
astronauts. Over and over as the minutes and hours ticked by the world was
inspired and awed by the NASA program and its scientific ability to solve and make
possible the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew. Rather than destroy the reputation of
the Apollo program and the space program in total, Apollo 13 became a rallying cry
of the United States and its citizens regarding the necessity of the program for all
humankind. Apollo 13 solidified the space program both societally and politically for

the United States and NASA. The events of Apollo 13 showed the citizens of the
United States and the world that the United States was unparalleled in its ability to
make its race to space work. Since then the United States and The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration have had 4 other manned Apollo missions to
the moon and each of them have been a success. Scientists at Nasa were able to
prevent many issues because of what happened on Apollo 13 and they used what
they learned to make the other Apollo missions successful and most importantly
safe. Sadly, in the recent past due to budget cuts in Nasa 3 Apollo missions were
canceled.
Apollo 13 is one of the most famous survival stories in American history and,
after the awe inspiring events of Apollo 13 Universal Studios bought the rights to its
story and began production in 1994. The Apollo 13 movie, that was released in June
of 1995, was to show the events of Apollo 13 and because of American citizens
infatuation with the story of the Apollo 13 the movie became very famous. The
Apollo 13 movie was an historical movie and transcribed the events of Apollo 13
accurately. The Apollo 13 movie inspired a generation and brought more eyes to
look to the stars.
Apollo 13s landing site in the Fra Mauro Formation of the Moon became the
successful landing site of the highly successful Apollo 14 mission which launched in
January 31 of 1971.