50 years of Apollo 13: watch 2 documentaries about the historic lunar mission

On April 11, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13, the lunar mission that almost ended in tragedy, but ended with the team’s triumph in saving the lives of astronauts aboard the Odyssey command and service module. As part of its program to remember the “successful failure” story, the space agency released a new documentary about the mission, nearly 30 minutes long.

The film, titled Apollo 13: safe house, features interviews with astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, who were on the spacecraft when the oxygen tank exploded. The third member of the spacecraft, John Swigert, died of bone cancer in December 1982.

Flight directors Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney, as well as engineer Hank Rotter, also appear in the documentary. Some of these interviews take place in the restored Apollo missions control room, but there are also a series of original NASA videos in the mission control room and newly synchronized audio.

The images reveal a bit of the long moments of tension when the team implemented the plan to save the lives of astronauts inside the spacecraft’s lunar module. Look below:

And if you like the subject, there is another older documentary called Apollo 13: Houston, we have a problem, in honor of the famous phrase pronounced by Jack Swigert. The film was created by the National Archives and Records Administration and is entirely made up of archive footage of the mission.

Slightly different from the new NASA documentary, this older one is a job that emphasizes mission control and the teamwork of the spacecraft, which overcame the issues of Apollo 13, as well as the global reaction to the crisis. There are also interviews with astronauts after the mission, such as Swigert’s speech about the vibrations he felt when the team heard the explosion of the oxygen tank explosion. You can see the documentary “Apollo 13: Houston, we have a problem” by clicking here

Source: Space.com