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Apollo 13's mission objective was to be the third mission to get to the Moon. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Shortly after Apollo 13 breached Earth's atmosphere, one of their air tanks malfunctioned, and blew up. The crew noticed oxygen levels decreasing at a surprising rate. They had to take action and fast. They had to somehow quickly and safely get themselves home, but how? With quick thinking, they hurried and turned the shuttle around. Now, they were heading back to Earth. They crash landed in the ocean. They had luckily all survived this horrific event.
Facts
Lunar Module: Aquarius
Command and Service Module: Odyssey
Crew: James A. Lovell, Jr. Commander
John L. Swigert, Jr., Command Module Pilot
Fred W. Haise, Jr. Lunar Module Pilot
Launched: April 11, 1970, pad 39A at 2:13 p.m. EST
Landing Site: Apollo 13's intended landing site was to be Fra Mauro.
Returned to Earth: Splashdown was April 17, 1970, at 18:07:41 UT
Mission Duration: Apollo's mission duration was 142 hours 54 minutes 41 seconds
Retrieval site: Pacific Ocean 21° 38' S 165° 22' W
Retrieval ship: U.S.S. Iwo Jima
Special Payload: ALSEP
Highlights/Notes:
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CM pilot Thomas K. Mattingly was removed 72 hours prior to scheduled launch due to presumed exposure to the german measles. He later flew on Apollo 16.
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First impact of the S-IVB/IU on the lunar surface. Normally it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.
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Use of lunar module to provide emergency propulsion and life support after loss of service module system.
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First aborted Apollo Mission
 Apollo13 |  5433p |
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 5432p |  5431p |
 |  5429p |
 5428p |  5427p |
 5125p |