April 17:

1970 : Apollo 13 returns to Earth

With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft
that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely
returns to Earth.

On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L.
Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on
the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the
mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No.
2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to
mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it
was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light,
and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the
astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with
emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon,
circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.

The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical
problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as
providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful
reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and
Apollo 13's course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested
maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13
astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

history.com/tdih.do


General Interest
1970 : Apollo 13 returns to Earth
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=4929

1790 : Benjamin Franklin dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6870

1941 : Yugoslavia surrenders
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4927

1969 : Architect of Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring resigns
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4928

#########################################