With the lunar landing canceled, mission controllers worked to bring the crew home alive. Although the LM was designed to support two men on the lunar surface for two days, Mission Control in Houston …

Apr 6, 2020 · After taking a free-return-to-Earth trajectory and using the Sun as an alignment star for navigation, Apollo 13 soon found themselves approaching home. One final problem …

Mar 17, 2026 · An oxygen tank in the spacecraft’s Service Module exploded on April 13, 1970, roughly 56 hours into the mission, crippling the ship and forcing three astronauts to abandon their moon …

Apr 2, 2020 · Because so much valuable experience was gained in the process of rescuing Lovell, Swiger, and Haise, NASA classified the Apollo 13 mission as a “ successful failure.”

Oct 5, 2025 · The event has since been immortalized in history as a “successful failure.” The Apollo 13 explosion accident taught NASA an invaluable lesson. In its aftermath, the oxygen tank design was …

Apr 6, 2026 · The Apollo 13 mission was to land on the moon for a third, but it soon turned into a rescue mission. An oxygen tank exploded aboard the spacecraft, causing both the crew on board and …

Apr 16, 2026 · Apollo 13, U.S. spaceflight, launched on April 11, 1970, that suffered an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon, threatening the lives of three astronauts—commander Jim Lovell, …

Aug 10, 2023 · Apollo 13 was NASA's third moon-landing mission but the astronauts never made it to the lunar surface. Explore the 'successful failure' in our Apollo 13 guide.

Jul 29, 2022 · The seventh crewed Apollo mission, Apollo 13, wasn’t as fortunate as the previous missions. Apollo 13 Moon mission was aborted, and all efforts focused on bringing crew members …

Jul 8, 2009 · Apollo 13 was to be the third lunar landing attempt, but the mission was aborted after rupture of service module oxygen tank. Still, it was classified as a “successful failure” because of the …