page_title: Apollo 13
section_title: Flight of Apollo 13
hierarchical_section_title: Apollo 13 / Flight of Apollo 13
caption_attribution_description: English: Apollo 13 space vehicle configuration during oxygen bay explosion Polski: Konfiguracja statku kosmicznego Apollo 13 podczas eksplozji zbiornika z tlenem
context_page_description: Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon, and returned safely to Earth on April 17. The mission was commanded by Jim Lovell with Jack Swigert as command module pilot and Fred Haise as lunar module pilot. Swigert was a late replacement for Ken Mattingly, who was grounded after exposure to rubella.
  A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both of the SM's oxygen tanks to space. Without oxygen, needed for breathing and for generating electric power, the SM's propulsion and life support systems could not operate. The CM's systems had to be shut down to conserve its remaining resources for reentry, forcing the crew to transfer to the LM as a lifeboat. With the lunar landing canceled, mission controllers worked to bring the crew home alive.
caption: Apollo 13 spacecraft configuration during most of the journey
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