Photos: Remembering Apollo 13 50 years later

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Apollo 13 In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) was photographed from the Command Module (CM) just after the LM had been jettisoned, April 17, 1970. The jettisoning occurred a few minutes before 11 a.m. (CST), just over an hour prior to splashdown of the CM in the south Pacific Ocean. The apparent explosion of oxygen tank number two in the Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) caused the Apollo 13 crew members to rely on the LM as a "lifeboat". (AP Photo/NASA) (AP)

Apollo 13 In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module following SM jettisoning, April 17, 1970. As seen here, an entire panel on the SM was blown away by the apparent explosion of oxygen tank number two located in Sector 4 of the SM. Two of the three fuel cells are visible just forward (above) the heavily damaged area. Three fuel cells, two oxygen tanks, and two hydrogen tanks are locate in Sector 4. The damaged area is located above the S-band high gain antenna. Nearest the camera is the Service Propulsion System (SPS) engine and nozzle. The damage to the SM caused the Apollo 13 crewmen to use the Lunar Module (LM) as a "lifeboat". The LM was jettisoned just prior to Earth reentry by the Command Module. (AP Photo/NASA) (AP)

Apollo 13 In this photo provided by NASA, a water level view of the Apollo 13 recovery operations in the South Pacific Ocean, April 17, 1970. The three astronauts are seen leaving their spacecraft. John L. Swigert Jr. (back to camera), command module pilot, is already in the life raft. Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot, facing camera, is stepping into the life raft. James A. Lovell Jr., commander, is leaving the spacecraft in the background. A United States Navy underwater demolition team assists with the recovery operations. The three crew members were picked up by helicopter and flown to the prime recovery ship, USS Iwo Jima. The Apollo 13 Command Module (CM) splashed down at 12:07:44 p.m. (CST) to safely conclude a perilous space flight. Though the Apollo lunar landing mission was canceled, a disastrous loss of three astronauts was averted. (AP Photo/NASA) (1996-98 AccuSoft Inc., All rights reserved/AP)

Apollo 13 This April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the severely damaged Apollo 13 service module, above, after separation from the lunar module/command module. An entire panel on the service module was blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank. The damage forced the Apollo 13 crew members to use the lunar module as a "lifeboat." The lunar module was jettisoned just prior to Earth re-entry by the command module. (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 This April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the severely damaged Apollo 13 service module after separation from the lunar module/command module. An entire panel on the service module was blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank. The damage forced the Apollo 13 crew members to use the lunar module as a "lifeboat." The lunar module was jettisoned just prior to Earth re-entry by the command module. (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 This April 17, 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the severely damaged Apollo 13 service module after separation from the lunar module/command module. An entire panel on the service module was blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank. The damage to the service module caused the Apollo 13 crew members to use the lunar module as a "lifeboat." The lunar module was jettisoned just prior to Earth re-entry by the command module (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 FILE - In this April 21, 1970 file photo, Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell uses a scale model during a televised news conference at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston to explain how the crew managed to survive after the explosion that damaged the service module during their mission to the moon. At center is John Swigert, command module pilot, and at right is Fred Haise, lunar module pilot. (AP Photo) (Anonymous/AP)

Apollo 13 FILE - In this April 21, 1970 file photo, Apollo 13 commander James A. Lovell Jr., left, opens the astronauts televised news conference at the Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, by saying "I'm not a superstitious man" alluding to the number 13 and the trouble that befell the flight. With Lovell are his fellow crew members, command module pilot John Swigert, center, and lunar module pilot Fred Haise. With their moon-bound spacecraft wrecked by an oxygen tank explosion on April 13, 1970, the astronauts urgently radioed, "Houston, we've had a problem here." Screenwriters for the 1995 film "Apollo 13″ wanted to punch that up. Thus was born "Houston, we have a problem." (AP Photo) (AP)

Apollo 13 In this April 15, 1970 photo made available by NASA, a group of flight controllers gather around the console of Glenn S. Lunney, foreground seated, Shift 4 flight director, in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of Mission Control Center (MCC) in Houston. Their attention is drawn to a weather map of the proposed landing site in the Pacific Ocean. At this point, the Apollo 13 lunar landing mission had been canceled, and the problem-plagued Apollo 13 crew members were in trans-Earth trajectory attempting to bring their crippled spacecraft back home. (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 FILE - In this Monday, June 17, 2019 file photo, Gene Kranz, aerospace engineer, fighter pilot, an Apollo-era flight director and later director of NASA flight operations, sits at the console where he worked during the Gemini and Apollo missions at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Kranz says the makers of the 1995 "Apollo 13" film came up with the line "Failure is not an option." Ask Kranz what he actually told flight controllers, he says, "I have never lost an American in space, sure as hell aren't going to lose one now. This crew is coming home. You got to believe it. Your team must believe it. And we must make it happen." (AP Photo/Michael Wyke) (Michael Wyke/AP)

Apollo 13 (14 April 1970) ---In this April 14, 1970 photo made available by NASA, a group of six astronauts and two flight controllers monitor the console activity in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of the Mission Control Center (MCC) during the problem-plagued Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Seated, left to right, are MOCR Guidance Officer Raymond F. Teague; astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14 prime crew lunar module pilot; and astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., Apollo 14 prime crew commander. Standing, left to right, are scientist-astronaut Anthony W. England; astronaut Joe H. Engle, Apollo 14 backup crew lunar module pilot; astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 14 backup crew commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, Apollo 14 backup crew command module pilot; and M.P. Frank, a flight controller. When this picture was made, the Apollo 13 moon landing had already been canceled, and the Apollo 13 crew men were in trans-Earth trajectory attempting to bring their damaged spacecraft back home. (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 This April 1970 photo made available by NASA shows the interior of the Apollo 13 lunar module with the "mail box," an ad hoc device which the crew assembled while in space to remove carbon dioxide from the air. It was designed and tested on the ground in Houston. Because of the explosion of one of the oxygen tanks in the service module, the three men had to use the lunar module as a "lifeboat" on their way back to Earth. (NASA via AP) (AP)

Apollo 13 In this April 1970 photo provided by NASA, Apollo 13 command module pilot John Swigert helps to hook up a lithium hydroxide canister in the lunar module, in an effort to get rid of carbon dioxide in the cabin as the spacecraft attempts to return to Earth. The explosion of an oxygen tank in the service module forced the three-man crew to rely on the lunar module as a "lifeboat." (NASA via AP) (AP)

April 13, 2020 at 9:19 am EDT

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