Launched: April 11, 1970 · Splashdown: April 17, 1970

— "Okay Houston, Hey, We've got a problem here..." —

Commander Jim Lovell's words initiated heroic efforts by crew and mission control to salvage a crippled spacecraft and return Apollo 13 safely to Earth.

The Apollo 13 mission is the only Apollo flight remembered primarily for the effort to bring it home. On the second day of the flight, a power producing oxygen tank exploded, badly damaging the service module and forcing the Moon landing to be aborted. But with the spacecraft nearly dead, the cancellation quickly paled in importance to the need to save the astronauts As mission control radioed emergency strategies around the clock, the astronauts converted the lunar module into a "lifeboat" and overcame each crisis by jury-rigging damaged equipment with the meager resources onboard. Following an anxious pass behind the Moon to gain lunar "sling-shot" momentum for the long journey back to Earth, Apollo 13 limped home with a worldwide television audience watching breathlessly. The astronauts' safe return, despite enormous challenges, was cause for great celebration - reason enough to label the crippled mission a "successful failure."

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Saturn V

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