![]() ![]() Brand relieved Kerwin at the Capcom console. “Gerry” Griffin relieved Lunney’s engineers and Vance D. About two hours prior to entry, they would reactivate the CM which had been in a dormant state for four days, one hour later jettison the LM and begin preparations for reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.Īfter that long conversation, the Gold Team of Flight Director Gerald D. From that position, they would jettison the SM and try to obtain some photographs that might show the damage from the oxygen tank explosion. With all three crewmembers awake, Kerwin read up to them the overall flow of events for last six and a half hours of their mission, beginning with activating and warming up the CM’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters followed by activating the LM’s systems to prepare for the final midcourse correction maneuver using the LM’s RCS thrusters. While Lovell kept watch, Lousma walked him through the planning activities ongoing in Mission Control, including a possible final midcourse correction about five hours before entry, the charging of two of Odyssey’s three batteries from Aquarius, a procedure never done before but essentially just reversing one in which the CM supplies power to the LM on its initial activation, reactivating the CM and the sequence for jettisoning first the Service Module (SM) and finally the LM just prior to reentry. Eventually, Haise went to sleep in the tunnel between the two spacecraft with his head resting on the LM’s ascent engine cover and Swigert on the floor of the LM. Lousma informed them that the status of all their consumables appeared sufficient to last the remainder of the mission, some with very comfortable margins, with the partial powerdown of Aquarius contributing significantly to the power and cooling water margins. Credit: NASAĪlthough Mission Control wanted Swigert and Haise to get some sleep while Lovell kept watch, all three crewmembers stayed awake and continued working. ![]() Mission Control on the day before splashdown. Approximately 36 hours remained until splashdown. Lousma had just resumed their positions in Mission Control to begin their next shift in support of Apollo 13. Windler and his Maroon Team as well as Capcom Jack R. In Mission Control at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Johnson Space Center in Houston, teams of flight controllers worked around the clock to ensure the astronauts returned safely. Of course, those plans changed a little over two days before when an explosion rocked their spacecraft, depriving Odyssey of power and oxygen.Īll three took refuge in Aquarius and, abandoning Moon landing plans, looped around the Moon, using the LM’s engine to speed their return to Earth instead of landing them on the lunar surface. Haise, still 175,000 miles (281,600 kilometers) from Earth, looked back at the Moon and realized that according to the normal flight plan, Lovell and Haise would have just landed their Lunar Module (LM) Aquarius in the Fra Mauro highlands as Swigert orbited the Moon in the Command Module (CM) Odyssey. “Jack” Swigert and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Fred W. Lovell, Command Module Pilot (CMP) John L. The crew of Apollo 13, Commander James A. ![]() Haise in the LM Aquarius making notes on a checklist. Swigert entering the LM Aquarius through the docking tunnel. ![]()
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