5 Fun Facts About Apollo 13

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE APOLLO 13 MISSION

 

1. Apollo 13 was the 7th manned mission in the American Apollo space program and was intended to land on the moon.

 

However, instead of skipping from 12 to 14, like any sane person, they used the number "13", and that was just asking for trouble.

 

But, it gets better. Apollo 13 launched at exactly 13:13CST from the Kennedy Space Center on the 11th April 1970. Some people just have no understanding of that number. You've got to avoid it at all costs. Don't hug the crap out of it.

 

And the explosion that caused havoc with the mission happened two days after launch, on the 13th April. Sheesh, they never stood a chance.

 

If that wasn't enough, every member of the crew, back-up crew, mission control, and even the president, had at least 13 grandfathers and an equal number of grandmothers. And on the journey from his house to the space center, Jim Lovell, the mission commander, stopped at exactly 13 traffic lights, turned 13 corners, and assassinated 13 hedgehogs whilst winking 13 times.

2. The three-man crew of Apollo 13 were Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton.

 

Nope, wait, that might be the movie.

 

The real crew were Jim Lovell, the Mission Commander, Jack Swigert, the Command Module pilot, and Fred Haise, Lunar Module pilot.

 

At the time, Tom Hanks, oops, I mean Jim Lovell, was the most experienced astronaut on the planet. Well, not on the planet, off the planet. He spent 715 hours in space and was part of the first mission that circled the moon. He was also the backup commander to Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 mission, which actually landed on the moon.

 

Okay, let it go Jim, Neil won the coin toss. And he once kicked William Shatner in the testicles over an argument about the mating habits of Klingons.

3. Houston, we have a problem.

 

In the movie, Tom Hanks, played by Jim Lovell, utters that infamous line. However, that wasn't what was originally said up in space back in 1970. And it wasn't even muttered by Tom Hanks.

 

Oh, for crying out loud. I mean, Jim Lovell. Run, Forest, Run.

 

It was Jack Swigert, the Command Module Pilot, who shouted, "Panic! Everyone Panic! There are frigging Alien Zombie Hedgehogs trying to cut their way in here. Send help. Oh, and I may have just pooped a little."

 

He then added, in past tense, "Houston, we've had a problem."

4. After the oxygen tank exploded on the Command Module, the crew took refuge in the lunar module, using it as a life-boat. Something it wasn't designed to do.

 

The module's life support was only designed to be used for a maximum of 45-hours. The astronauts had to extend this to 90 hours.

 

To extend the battery life, they switched off their data roaming on their iPhones, which then gave them enough power to light up a city. They also had to conserve water, and sipped a measly six ounces a day.

 

They lost more than 30 pounds in weight in those two days, and due to severe dehydration, Fred Haise suffered a kidney infection.

5. The oxygen tank that exploded, causing all the problems, and the destruction of Jim Lovell's dream to land on the moon so he could flip Neil Armstrong the bird, and visit the moon-people living there, was actually taken from Apollo 10.

 

It had been damaged during the removal, but fixed and used on Apollo 13. In a test before the launch, the tank failed to work properly, but they found a way to correct the problem by sticking some cardboard over the red flashing warning light.

 

To Infinity And Beyond.