STS-135 T-14, Apollo 13 - 1970, "Houston, we've had a problem."

Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3

Just four months after the first moon landing, Apollo 12 followed the path to the moon.  This time a few of the kinks were worked out.  They figured out that Apollo 11 landed so far off course due to a miscalculation in the angle of the decent burn.  With that corrected, Apollo 12 landed that was so accurately that they were able to walk to the Surveyor 3 probe that had landed years earlier and retrieve some parts to take back to analyze.  Remember, I told I would explain how the picture of Surveyor 3 was taken on the moon.  See the picture of the astronaut Conrad, Surveyor 3, and the LEM in the background.  So close a landing was unbelievably accurate.

Apollo 13 SM showing Damage

The third landing mission to the moon, Apollo 13, lived up to its unlucky number.  Two days into the trip to the moon, there was a bang, heard and felt by the crew.  Listen to the attached audio, of the well know, "Houston, we've had a problem."  The extent of the damage was not fully known, but after investigation, they determined that the command module had lost it's oxygen tank.  This had far reaching consequences.  The side effects were that the fuel cells could no longer create power, they could not remove the carbon dioxide from the cabin, the SCM rockets were inoperable, and in general the command module became useless.

The LEM was called to duty to save the astronauts.  Without it, the spaceship would have been doomed.  A contingency plan was put into action to have the spacecraft slingshot around the moon and back to Earth.  The command/service module was nearly useless.  The details depicted in the movie are very accurate.  Watch it.  The picture shows the CO2 scrubber they highlighted in the movie.

CO2 Scrubber Mod in the LEM

It was a hair raising few days.  It was horrible to think that the astronauts could easily be stranded.  We followed the news continuously for the three days it took to swing around the moon and carefully aim for the reentry and landing in the Pacific.  Through the ingenuity of thousands of people, the LEM was used for rocket propulsion, living quarters, and life support through the trip to the moon and back to Earth.  It was an incredibly lucky break and a masterminded adaption of the equipment to save the crew.

When the service module was jettisoned towards the end of the voyage, they were able to take the picture that showed the entire side blown off.  That was the first they saw of the severity of the damage.  It was truly miraculous that they survived.  Really, rent the movie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13