Apollo 13 Remembrance Thread

[kevindavis007]

On this day Apollo 13 started:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3NAj4jCb0

[Cyber Liberty]

50 years ago, a few days back, we were on a family vacation to Florida.  We toured the Kennedy Space Center, where this rocket was on the launch pad almost ready to go.  I was 12. 

I feel blessed to have seen a Saturn V on the launch pad.

[kevindavis007]

50 years ago, a few days back, we were on a family vacation to Florida.  We toured the Kennedy Space Center, where this rocket was on the launch pad almost ready to go.  I was 12. 

I feel blessed to have seen a Saturn V on the launch pad.

You are lucky. All I saw was the Shuttle.

[Elderberry]

I never got to the Cape. I did get to see several of the capsules. They would put them in the parking lot behind the NASA building at 6040 Telephone Rd which was close to our neighborhood.

https://abc13.com/science/how-southeast-houston-helped-america-win-the-space-race/5406522/

NASA called southeast Houston home before Spacecraft Center opened

Before NASA moved to Clear Lake, it was southeast Houston that helped astronauts get to the moon.

In the early 1960s, NASA occupied several buildings in southeast Houston. The Manned Spacecraft Center opened in late 1963.

Here's a list of address where Chapman found NASA facilities in Houston:

    6040 Telephone Rd.
    2999 S Wayside Dr.
    2002 S Wayside Dr.
    4750 Gulf Freeway
    5440 Gulf Freeway
    4200 Leeland St.
    4513 Cullen Blvd.

[Elderberry]

I did get to fly the Shuttle Motion Base Simulator once.

My landing was a little ragged, but I hit the center of the runway and didn't bounce too hard.

[Elderberry]

Apollo 13 at 50: How NASA turned near-disaster at the moon into a 'successful failure' in space

Space.com By Chelsea Gohd 4/11/2020

https://www.space.com/apollo-13-nasa-successful-failure-50th-anniversary.html

While the crew never made it to the moon's surface, their very survival serves as a testament to the human spirit.

Fifty years ago today (April 11), three astronauts launched to space, poised to be the next humans to walk on the moon. But things didn't exactly go according to plan.

Famously described as a "successful failure," the Apollo 13 mission almost ended in complete and utter disaster. However, while the astronauts never made it to the moon's surface, their very survival serves as a testament to the human spirit and incredible ingenuity.

"Our goal 50 years ago was to save our valiant crew after sending them around the moon and return them safely to Earth," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. "Our goal now is to return to the moon to stay, in a sustainable way. We are working hard to ensure that we don't need to respond to this kind of emergency in Artemis, but to be ready to respond to any problems we don't anticipate."

More at link.

The crewmembers of the Apollo 13 mission, step aboard the USS Iwo Jima recovery ship after
successfully surviving their journey around the moon and splashing down in the Pacific ocean. 
(Image credit: NASA)

[Elderberry]

The Apollo 13 Flight Journal

https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap13fj/index.html

Welcome to this 1 March 2020 release of the Apollo 13 Flight Journal, part of the Apollo Flight Journal series.

Like its companion, the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, it is intended to be a resource for all those interested in the Apollo program, whether in a passing or scholarly capacity.

This journal covers the flight of Apollo 13, eventually from launch to splashdown. As a "living document", it will continue to grow and evolve. Journals for other Apollo flights are available at the AFJ Portal.


https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a13/images13.html
Apollo 13 Image Library

[Cyber Liberty]

The Apollo 13 Flight Journal

https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap13fj/index.html

Welcome to this 1 March 2020 release of the Apollo 13 Flight Journal, part of the Apollo Flight Journal series.

Like its companion, the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, it is intended to be a resource for all those interested in the Apollo program, whether in a passing or scholarly capacity.

This journal covers the flight of Apollo 13, eventually from launch to splashdown. As a "living document", it will continue to grow and evolve. Journals for other Apollo flights are available at the AFJ Portal.


https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a13/images13.html
Apollo 13 Image Library

The picture of the Saturn V clearing the tower takes my breath away....

[kevindavis007]

The picture of the Saturn V clearing the tower takes my breath away....

I missed that experince.. I was born a few months after Apollo 13. Here is hoping that we get Elon's Starship, The SLS, and Blue Origin New Glenn rockets.

[Elderberry]

The picture of the Saturn V clearing the tower takes my breath away....

[Applewood]

By the time of this mission, tv stations had stopped covering them live.  It wasn't until it was learned something was wrong with Apollo 13 that we had wall-to-wall coverage. 

This old lady misses the days when these missions were televised live.  As kids in school, we would have assemblies where we would all gather to watch on tv.  Much of the technical stuff was over our heads, but it was exciting to watch. 

[mystery-ak]

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell on coronavirus: 'We've got a problem. And how do we solve it'
https://www.foxnews.com/media/apollo-13-commander-jim-lovell-coronavirus

[Cyber Liberty]

[/quote

That's the one, @Elderberry!  Thanks!!

[Neverdul]

I missed that experince.. I was born a few months after Apollo 13. Here is hoping that we get Elon's Starship, The SLS, and Blue Origin New Glenn rockets.

@kevindavis

Me too.

I was born in '61 so I don't remember any of the Mercury missions but do remember watching some of the later Gemini launches and just about all the Apollo launches, either at home or at school. My dad was a huge fan of the US space program and we'd often watch the launches and coverage together and he encouraged my interest in and love of science. I remember watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing live on TV and my dad crying tears of joy, an achievement he had dreamed about as a child and was so amazed he had lived to see it.

I also remember the Christmas Eve Apollo 8 broadcast – Jim Lovell was the command module pilot on Apollo 8. I was allowed to stay up late by my dad (IIRC it was broadcast around 9:30 PM EST, past my normal bed time and especially late to be up on Christmas Eve) and in spite my mother wanting me to go to bed and as a 7-year-old being concerned about what might happen if Santa came while I was still awake, my dad assured me (and my mom) that Santa was probably watching the live broadcast too and assured us both that I’d be in bed in plenty of time.

I also remember Apollo 13, remember when the news broke of Apollo 13’s problem and all of us being glued to the TV for days and praying.

Say what you will about Ron Howard’s politics and or Tom Hanks’ (although as an actor I do love him), the move Apollo 13 did a great job IMO.  Yes, there were a few minor inaccuracies and some dialogue and such added for artistic and dramatic license but overall quite accurate. But the launch sequence was amazing. I also liked that there weren’t any politically correct depictions of the makeup of the control room – nothing but nerdy and highly competent chain smoking, coffee drinking white guys in their white shirts and ties.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-JdqHxqkHA&t=16s

If anyone is interested, a Brit, Nick Hodges has a YouTube channel - “History Buffs in which he reviews historically based movies for historical accuracy and IMO does an excellent job. Here is his review of the movie Apollo 13. It’s long and the first half is historical background but worth the watch especially the 2nd half when the film review starts and the last quarter were he goes into some of the historical inaccuracies. But overall he still loves the film.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjCOMJDULaE