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Questions tagged [apollo-13]

Questions regarding Apollo 13 which is launched as a part of American Apollo space program by Saturn v from Kennedy Space Center in April 11, 1970 carrying three crew members but lunar landing was aborted because of rapture of oxygen tank and few technical problems after injection to orbit

32 votes
1 answer
4k views

Apollo 13's plutonium RTG re-entry into the Tonga Trench: Good shootin' or good luck?

Plutonium powered RTGs are encased to survive re-entry. According to the Wikipedia article on Apollo 13 RTGs were used to power … the scientific experiments left on the Moon by the crews of Apollo …...
Woody's user avatar
  • 22.9k
5 votes
1 answer
554 views

What was the available delta v of the Apollo 13 spacecraft, post explosion?

The LM ascent engine wasn't used for direct abort. Presuming no one cares about the crew and just wanted to burn the LM to empty (both stages), what would the delta v have been? If it helps, I'm ok ...
Michael Stachowsky's user avatar
31 votes
1 answer
4k views

Did the crew lock themselves inside the LM on Apollo 13?

Watching and reading about Apollo 13 I am a little confused. They left the Command Module to use the Lunar Module as a lifeboat but did they close the hatch between the 2 to ensure the CM didn’t use ...
Richard C's user avatar
  • 413
1 vote
1 answer
160 views

How can I find Inclination and Longitude of ascending node for the Moon on JPL's Horizons?

To answer the bountied question "Puzzler: Precisely what maximum distance from the Earth did the Apollo 13 astronauts achieve? ", I have to know the Inclination and the Longitude of ...
Cornelis's user avatar
  • 7,535
25 votes
1 answer
785 views

Does the post Apollo 13 roast mixtape still exist?

The debriefing party at the Hofbraugarten was merciless, beginning with a parody of the mission. The tape prepared by the Apollo 13 backup crew and the CapComs was not for the thin-skinned. The parody ...
Yaakov Saxon's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
5k views

Would replacing a damaged tank have prevented the Apollo 13 incident?

In Oct. 1968, at North American works, one Oxygen tank was dropped from a height of 2 inches, (perhaps on the fill valve side) and this dropping damaged the fill valve. Because of this, this ...
Niranjan's user avatar
  • 3,796
18 votes
3 answers
8k views

Apollo 14-17 - Why didn't they keep the Lunar Module docked as a lifeboat for the way back to Earth?

During Apollo 13, the Lunar Module had to be used as a lifeboat in order to save the astronauts. Then, it was only jettisoned from the Command Module shortly before Earth re-entry (even after the ...
jakob.j's user avatar
  • 299
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

What exactly makes the "bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!" sound just before "Houston, we have hard dock." in the Apollo 13 movie?

About seven seconds after "Capture!" and just before "Houston, we have hard dock" in the feature film Apollo 13 there are about seven loud bangs at about 3 Hz repetition. At this ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

What is this unlikely-looking contraption ("plutonium battery and scientific equipment") they're making Jim Lovell carry around a parking lot?

The BBC's Did nuclear spy devices in the Himalayas trigger India floods contains the following image and caption. Questions: What scientific equipment and which plutonium battery is this? Since this ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
2 votes
1 answer
444 views

What was the normal function of the (coax?) crosshairs used during the Apollo 13 famous manual burn?

What crosshairs were used to maintain an attitude during the famous manual trajectory correction burn during Apollo 13's return to Earth? What was their normal function? This is all I can hear in the ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
0 votes
0 answers
90 views

Did the service module in Apollo 13 do anything useful after the explosion, so that keeping it attached was important? [duplicate]

I realize they didn't know what happened so probably didn't know that there was such extensive damage. However, they didn't eject the service module. Why was that? Did it serve some useful purpose ...
Michael Stachowsky's user avatar
19 votes
2 answers
2k views

What kept crosswinds from pushing Apollo rockets into their own gantry?

Watching this unnamed Saturn V launch (Apollo 13?), I see the gantries pull away, and the rocket takes 13 seconds to clear the tower. That seems like enough time ...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
593 views

Why were the openings of the LiOH canisters in Apollo different shapes in the first place?

Many of you probably know the famous "square peg in a round hole" situation on Apollo 13. All three astronauts were in the LM and there was a build up of CO2 from the astronauts exhaling. They had to ...
Star Man's user avatar
  • 5,928
38 votes
2 answers
5k views

Did Apollo 13 produce any scientific results?

Despite an explosion and other setbacks, Apollo 13 landed safely back on Earth on April 17, 1970. Even though the astronauts did not make it to the lunar surface, were any scientific results reported?...
DrSheldon's user avatar
  • 48.1k
8 votes
2 answers
461 views

Did any part of the Apollo 13 LiOH adapter return to Earth?

During Apollo missions, carbon dioxide expelled by the astronauts' breath was removed by lithium hydroxide cartridges in command module and lunar module. Apollo 13 infamously had a problem with ...
DrSheldon's user avatar
  • 48.1k

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