Apollo 13 Research Paper

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Clinton Mellott Pirring American history 24 April 2015 Apollo 13 Man had already walked on the moon and the Apollo 13 expedition didn’t even make front page news. Americans were growing apathetic towards the Apollo expeditions but no doubt the mission was an important one. The Apollo 13 mission showed Americans that we were capable of great things and that we were a great country. The Apollo 13 mission was launched at 2:13 p.m. est. April 11, 1970 from launch complex 39a at Kennedy space center. The Apollo 13 crew consisted of James Lovell (commander) Jack Swigert (command module pilot) and Fred Haise (lunar module pilot). Swigert was originally part of the Apollo 13 backup crew but he was bumped up because the original command module pilot,…show more content…
James Lovell Jr. was one of NASA’s most experienced astronauts and was very excited to have his chance to walk on the moon. After the men took their last hot showers for the next ten days and visited the missions medical team for their final medical checkup. They then had their traditional send off breakfast of steak and eggs before preparing for the launch. Everything about the mission was going smoothly, so far. There was a lot of chatter among the superstitious though. Some pointed out the launch date 4/11/70 when added together totaled 13. Apollo 13’s lift off was scheduled at 1:13 pm Houston time 1313 by military clocks. If the mission continued on schedule, Apollo 13 would enter the moon’s gravitational pull on April 13 (Judy L. Hasday 12-13). The three astronauts chuckled with amusements at these superstitious types. The motto astronaut James Lovell choose for his Apollo 13 mission was “ex Luna, scientia,” which was a Latin phrase meaning “from the moon, knowledge,” his name for his lunar module was “Aquarius,” after an ancient Egyptian mythological water carrier who brought water to the Nile river. Lovell called the control module “Odyssey” because he liked the sound of the name. Jack Swigert who replaced…show more content…
He was very instrumental in getting his crew mates safely home. The situation may have seemed dire but the lead flight director knew almost right from the beginning that they would bring this crew home he had great confidence in the lunar module Aquarius. The most concerns were not of the lunar modules abilities but if three would be enough oxygen, water, and electricity available for the crew. As the astronauts watched their damaged spacecraft go behind the moon they felt sad, the mission would not be completed. But now at least they were on their way home. They felt they had worked hard for a lot of years for nothing they were disappointed (Judy L. Hasday 60, 62, 63, 73). The crew would slingshot back to earth in the lunar module. This was designed to support only two crew members. NASA engineers had to devise a way to jerry rig the command modules carbon dioxide filters which was not compatible with the lunar modules. They had to ration both food and water. Temperatures were extremely low making sleep difficult. The Apollo 13 crew safely returned to earth on April 17. The conditions on the crippled spacecraft certainly took a toll on the astronauts. They lost a combined weight of 31.5lbs. And Fred Haise had developed a urinary tract infection. The Apollo 14 mission in February 1971 explored the Fra Mauro region of the moon’s surface (world history

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