The lunar module was designed for two people, not three, so too much carbon dioxide built up, and they didn't have the proper size filters. On the journey back, problems continued to crop up. LEWIS: As electrical power and oxygen dwindled, the crew abandoned the command module and entered the lunar module to use it as a lifeboat. LIEBERGOT: And of course I shrunk up in my little shell (laughter). SY LIEBERGOT: I remember at one point Kranz asked me, Sy, what do we got on the spacecraft that's good? Sy Liebergot was responsible for the electrical and environmental systems on board - the very things that were failing. The flight controllers scrambled to try to understand what was happening. From this point on, the Apollo 13 mission shifted from landing on the moon to survival. JACK LOUSMA: Roger, we copy you're venting. We are venting something out into the - into space. LOVELL: It looks to me looking out the back that we are venting something. LEWIS: Fifteen minutes after the accident, the gravity of the situation became clear as Lovell radioed down to mission control. So I thought gee, this is just another glitch, we'll work this after we get the crew to sleep. GENE KRANZ: When we got the call down from the spacecraft, I didn't think too much of this at this time because basically we had had two electrical glitches earlier in that particular shift. Gene Kranz was the lead Apollo 13 flight director and on duty when the explosion happened. LEWIS: Controllers on the ground hadn't quite come to that realization yet. That was probably within the first minute, I knew we couldn't go land. Haise says he knew right away the mission was in jeopardy.įRED HAISE: So my feeling just went to a - just a sick feeling in my stomach. The multiple error warnings were confusing. LEWIS: Fellow astronaut Fred Haise started scanning the gauges and didn't like what he saw. LOVELL: I was coming down from the lunar module into the command module when suddenly I heard that big hiss bang and everything rocked back and forth, lights came on, jets were firing, noise all over. Speaking at the San Diego Air and Space Museum recently, Lovell recalled that moment. An oxygen tank inside the service module exploded. JIM LOVELL: Houston, we've had a problem. LEWIS: An explosion ripped through the spacecraft and Commander Jim Lovell uttered one of the most famous phrases ever said in space. But 55 hours into the mission and approaching the moon, this happened. This was to be the third lunar landing mission, and by this point, public interest in the Apollo program was waning. LEWIS: The massive rocket thundered skyward sending Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert to the moon. We have commit and we have liftoff at 2:13. PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: Ignition sequence has started - six, five, four, three, two, one, zero. RUSSELL LEWIS, BYLINE: The Apollo 13 mission started like so many others before it when it lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center in 1970. Many people directly involved in the mission came together on the eve of the anniversary. The three astronauts and dozens of flight controllers labored for days to solve one challenge after another. Apollo 13 captured the world's attention after an explosion crippled the spacecraft. Tomorrow marks the 45th anniversary of the start of a mission that came to be known as NASA's most famous successful failure.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |