Apollo 13

50th Anniversary Ceremony Recreates First US Manned Spaceflight by Alan Shepard

May 10, 2011

NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first American manned spaceflight at a special ceremony on May 5, 2011 which recreated every moment of that short suborbital flight by the late Mercury astronaut Alan B. Shepard. The event unfolded from the very spot and launch pad 5/6 where he blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air [...]

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A Conversation with Jim Lovell, part 2: Looking Back

September 27, 2010

Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell was awarded the Lincoln Leadership Prize by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum foundation last week, and while humbled to receive the award, Lovell said he really is just an ordinary person. “I was just at the right place at the right time with the right credentials; there was nothing [...]

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A Conversation with Apollo’s Jim Lovell, part 1: NASA’s Future

September 23, 2010

Springfield, Illinois is a quiet, historic town that clings fervently to its association with Abraham Lincoln. If you want Civil War era history and desire to know anything about Lincoln, you can find it in Springfield, especially at the outstanding new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Musuem. So, it’s not often that an astronaut shows [...]

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Apollo 13

August 19, 2010

Apollo 13 was the third mission in the Apollo program that was scheduled to land on the moon. The mission lifted off successfully, but a rupture in an oxygen tank damaged many electrical components causing the moon landing to be aborted. The crew was able to survive and return to Earth by using the Lunar [...]

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Final Round of Apollo 13 Questions Answered by Jerry Woodfill

May 8, 2010

Our readers had questions about our series “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” and NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill has graciously answered them. Below is the final round of Q & A with Jerry; but if you missed them, here are part 1 and part 2. Again, our sincere thanks to Jerry Woodfill for not only [...]

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More of Your Apollo 13 Questions Answered by Jerry Woodfill

May 7, 2010

Our many thanks to NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill for taking the time to answer questions from our readers about our series on “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13.” Here is part 2 of the questions, and if you missed Part 1, here is the link. That’s Jerry above, in the image with Apollo 13 astronaut [...]

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Your Questions about Apollo 13 Answered by Jerry Woodfill

May 6, 2010

Now that our series on “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13″ is complete, NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill has graciously agreed to answer questions from our readers. We have a lot of questions, so we will post some of Jerry’s answers today and more over the next few days. Question from Daniel Roy: Did we ever [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 13: The Mission Operations Team

May 5, 2010

The phrase “last but not least” was likely never more appropriate. Though this is the last article of our “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13″ series, it might be the most important. “Each time I’ve heard Jim Lovell or Fred Haise speak of the rescue,” said NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill, “they have always expressed their [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 12: Lunar Orbit Rendezvous

April 28, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. Going to the Moon was big. It was a giant stride in doing what had once been thought impossible. [...]

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Submit Your Questions about Apollo, Apollo 13 to NASA Engineer Jerry Woodfill

April 28, 2010

Our series “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13″ has raised a few questions for some of our readers about spacecraft design, decisions made during the Apollo program, and general questions about spaceflight. Some of you have already left questions as comments on the articles or sent in emails. NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill, who has been [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 11: A Hollywood Movie

April 27, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. A Hollywood movie depicts three astronauts who survive an accident in space, but their lives hang in the balance [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 10: Duct Tape

April 26, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. It’s the handy man’s secret weapon, and has become a must-have item for astronauts, too. While duct tape alone [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 9: Position of the Tanks

April 21, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. The saga of the Apollo 13 accident actually began years prior to the launch of the mission. As Jim [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 8: The Command Module Wasn’t Severed

April 19, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. When the Apollo 13 crew jettisoned the crippled Service Module as they approached Earth, they saw the extent of [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 7: The Apollo 1 Fire

April 18, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to [...]

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Never Before Published Images of Apollo 13 Recovery

April 17, 2010

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the successful return and recovery of the Apollo 13 spacecraft and crew, which has been called the the most satisfying splashdown in the history of human spaceflight. The images here of the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts have never been published before, and were sent to Universe [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 6: Navigating By Earth’s Terminator

April 16, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. The rupture and explosion of Apollo 13′s oxygen tank crippled the spacecraft, endangering the lives of the crew and [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 5: Unexplained Shutdown of the Saturn V Center Engine

April 14, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. While oxygen tank number two on the Apollo 13 spacecraft was an accident waiting to happen, another problem on [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 4: Using the LM for Propulsion

April 13, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. After Flight Director Gene Kranz and his team in Mission Control had ascertained the true peril the Apollo 13 [...]

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13 Things That Saved Apollo 13, Part 3: Charlie Duke’s Measles

April 12, 2010

Note: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, for 13 days, Universe Today will feature “13 Things That Saved Apollo 13,” discussing different turning points of the mission with NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill. Just 72 hours before the scheduled launch of Apollo 13, Ken Mattingly was removed from the mission and replaced [...]

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