953 nut 59,889 #1 Posted April 13, 2016 4-13-1970 Apollo 13 oxygen tank explodes On April 13, 1970, disaster strikes 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on Apollo 13, the third manned lunar landing mission. Astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise had left Earth two days before for the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon but were forced to turn their attention to simply making it home alive. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, and providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13‘s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, with the world anxiously watching, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SylvanLakeWH 28,377 #2 Posted April 13, 2016 My go to "tool" - Duct Tape - stands proudly on your poster above...although I admit I've moved to Gorilla Tape now - way stickier and holds twice as good. Maybe they could have landed on the moon and completed the mission if they had it back then... In any case - remarkable story of skill and ingenuity... 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
