Apollo 13 Pictures

Here are some Apollo 13 pictures. You can make any of these pictures into your computer desktop background. Just click on an image to enlarge it, and then right-click and choose “Set as Desktop Background.

Here’s a photo of the Apollo 13 mission launching from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. It launched on April 11, 1970, just a few days before its accident in space, which has been turned into a popular movie.

This is an image of the Apollo 13 re-entry capsule returning to Earth, slowed by three large parachutes. Because of the accident, Apollo 13 kept its lunar lander attached to the Command Module for the entire trip around the Moon and back to Earth. They jettisoned it at the last minute just before re-entering the atmosphere.

Here’s a photo of the Apollo 13 capsule floating on the ocean after its landing. You can see command module pilot John L. Swigert Jr being lifted up by a helicopter.

And here’s a photo of Commander Jim Lovell being lifted up into the helicopter. He was the last of the three astronauts lifted up to safety after their capsule landed in the ocean.

This is an image of the Apollo 13 command module, which was normally used by the astronauts through the mission. Their command module had to be powered down to save power so they had to use the service module after the accident.

We’ve written many articles about Apollo 13 for Universe Today. Here’s an article about what really happened on Apollo 13, and here’s an article about the Apollo 13 launch.

If you’d like more information on Apollo 13, here’s a link to NASA’s Apollo 13 mission page, and here’s more information on the accident.

We’ve recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast about the NASA capsules. Listen here, Episode 124: Space Capsules.