This Day in Pop Culture for April 17

1970: The Apollo 13 Spacecraft Returns to Earth

The Apollo 13 mission was the seven in the American Apollo Space program and the third with an intention of landing on the Moon. James Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise launched into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 11, 1970. Two days later, an oxygen tank exploded which caused limited power, heat and potable water. Swigert calmly reported, “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” Much damage was made to the Service Module which meant that a safe lunar landing was impossible and so the mission was aborted, however, there was still the matter of getting back home. No words can effectively explain the stress the astronauts and ground crew faced while thinking on the fly a makeshift repair to the carbon dioxide removal system, but the Ron Howard 1995 film, Apollo 13, does a good job of making you feel as if you were there. The crew “splashdowned” safely on this day in 1970.