On April 13, 1970, disaster strikes 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blows up on
On April 15, 1970, Apollo 13 was 254 km (158 miles) from the lunar surface on the far side of the moon—and 400,171 km (248,655 miles) above the Earth's surface, meaning the crew of Apollo 13 set a Guinness World Record for the farthest distance from Earth reached by humans.
The craft had essentially been in a cold water soak for days, and could have shorted out, but thanks to safeguards put in place after the Apollo 1 disaster, there were no issues. Lovell, Haise and Swigert safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa, on April 17.
The Apollo 13 malfunction was caused by an explosion and rupture of oxygen tank no. 2 in the service module. The explosion ruptured a line or damaged a valve in the no. 1 oxygen tank, causing it to lose oxygen rapidly.
It was the world's first known space tragedy. Veteran space pilots Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, 40, and Edward H. White, 36, and rookie Roger Chaffee, 31, died in flames while lying on their backs in their moonship in a routine ground test for their Feb.
During the Apollo 13 mission, the LM environmental control system provided a habitable environment for about 83 hours (57:45 to 141:05 GET). Cabin temperature remained low due to low electrical power levels. This caused crew discomfort during much of this period, with cabin temperatures ranging between 49°F and 55 °F.
Update: A typical Apollo blackout lasted about 4 minutes. Due to a shallower re-entry path, Apollo 13's blackout was calculated to last about 4.5 minutes. Flight director Gene Kranz's logs show that it took about 6 minutes to re-establish contact with Apollo 13.
To answer the updated question of "Would replacing a damaged tank have prevented the Apollo 13 incident"? Absolutely yes. Bearing in mind that that tank was damaged in two completely separate, mostly unrelated ways. It had some damaged plumbing, preventing a testing drain for completing correctly.
Unable to land, the crew of Apollo 13 changed their course to rapidly slingshot around the Moon and return to Earth. Three days after the accident, the astronauts safely re-entered Earth's atmosphere and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean.
All three astronauts were forced to pile into the lunar module (LM), which had enough oxygen to support the astronauts, but had been designed for only two. The carbon dioxide produced by all three astronauts exceeded the capacity of the onboard lithium hydroxide filters.
Apollo 13 Hero Glynn Lunney Defined Grace Under Pressure - Bloomberg.
The command module of Apollo 13 entered Earth's atmosphere and splashed down on target on April 17 at 1:07 PM Eastern Standard Time. The mission has been referred to as a successful failure, in that all the crew members survived a catastrophic accident.
But when Swigert turned on the fans on the second oxygen tank for a routine “cryo stir” on the night of April 13, the damaged wiring caused a spark, starting a fire. At 9:08 pm, with its internal pressure mounting, the tank exploded.
The Farthest Distance from Earth Reached by Humans. On 15th April 1970, Apollo 13 was 254 km from the lunar surface on the far side of the moon—and 400,171 km above the Earth's surface. This is in fact a Guinness World Record for the farthest distance from Earth reached by humans and still holds to this day.
Three hours later, the crew left the lunar module Aquarius and then splashed down gently in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa. After an intensive investigation, the Apollo 13 Accident Review Board identified the cause of the explosion.
The TLI placed Apollo on a "free-return trajectory" - often illustrated as a figure of eight shape. This course would have harnessed the power of the Moon's gravity to propel the spacecraft back to Earth without the need for more rocket fuel.
Anthony Kontaratos was truly one of the unsung heroes in the history of NASA, as he was not only the engineer responsible for helping save the crew of the Apollo 13 mission, but also one of the scientists who placed the first man on the moon.
It was April 17, 1970 when the crew of the Apollo 13 mission found themselves in a rather complicated situation, as well as dangerous, but thanks to an Omega Speedmaster they managed to save themselves.
It's the story of the engine that brought those astronauts home, and the chemist who invented it. On April 13, 1970, Gerard Elverum's pintle injector rocket engine fired for 34 seconds to put the damaged Apollo 13 spacecraft on a safe path back to Earth.
"They would have missed the Earth and died a lonely death in space when their oxygen ran out," Chaikin said in the narration, with initial editions including the erroneous information. "Even more chilling," he added, "their bodies would never have returned, because Apollo 13 would have circled in space forever.
Discussions between the Apollo 13 crew
According to Jim Lovell, there were no discussions or fights, as portrayed in the movie. The most important thing for the crew at that point was to focus on their greatest goal: to return home.
Using a clever solution of a plastic bag, cardstock, a spacesuit hose, and that stuff that holds everything together, duct tape, the engineers in Mission Control mocked up an altered lithium hydroxide filter. The astronauts then recreated the contraption (nicknamed “the mailbox”) on the LM. It was a massive success!
3.5 Apollo 13
During the second period, the Commander, Command Module Pilot, and Lunar Module Pilot slept 5, 6, and 9 hours, respectively. The third sleep period was scheduled for 61 hours, but the orygen tank incident at 56 hours precluded sleep by any of the crew until approximately 80 hours.
Five minutes to go now for reentry into the Earths atmosphere. Now reading a velocity of 34,335 feet per second [10,465 m/s]. Range to go 2,921 nautical miles [5,410 km].
By this time, the temperature in the spacecraft is about 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius). Note the condensation in “Swigert's” breath and the condensation on the window. While it was cold enough to be very uncomfortable, it was not cold enough for the astronauts to freeze to death.