#lm-7

Artwork of the oxygen tanks exploding in the Apollo 13 Service Module by Robert McCall. The explosion disabled the Apollo CSM electrical and life support systems, necessitating the cancellation of the planned third lunar landing. The crew used the lunar module as a life boat until the command module could restart for the re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

Date: April 13, 1970

Apollo 13 " LEM Lifeboat " April 17, 1970, Mark Maxwell artist (1987)

"Lifeboat / Apollo 13 was inspired by the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight. After an explosion in the service module on the way to the moon, astronauts linked their conical command module up with their landing module. Instead of landing on the moon, the lander became their lifeboat, adding life-support systems and allowing a loop around the moon and a safe return to Earth. On return, the service module was jettisoned creating this unusual configuration. INFO: From 'In the stream of stars', 'The Soviet/American Space Art book' (New York) 1990."

Scan and remastered by Dan Beaumont.

"Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you",

Artwork of the separation sequence leading to re-entry of Apollo 13 Commande Module Odyssey.

Date: April 17, 1970

"Apollo 13: Separation of the never-flown-before Command Module / Lunar Module configuration from the crippled Service Module. Approaching Earth, they fired the Aquarius engine again to thread themselves through the slender gateway out of space, shifted to the damaged Service Module and their lifeboat, the Aquarius. Carrier Iwo Jima, steaming on station in the Pacific Ocean, picked them up 45 minutes after splashdown, the fastest recovery ever."

Date: April 17, 1970

The Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM-7) descent stage with thermal shielding above the descent engine under construction at Grumman Aerospace Corporation's factory at Bethpage, Long Island, New York.

The Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM-7) Aquarius, being moved from the high altitude chamber following testing.

Date: October 10, 1969

Trajectory correction propulsion of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module Aquarius.

"Artist portrays particles from damaged spacecraft accompanying Aquarius and ruptured Odyssey as Apollo 13 fires engine to alter course. NASA: The spacecraft was then maneuvered back into a free-return trajectory at 061:29:43.49 by firing the LM descent engine for 34.23 seconds. It then looped behind the Moon and was out of contact with the Earth tracking stations between 077:08:35 and 077:33:10, a total of 24 minutes 35 seconds."

Date: April 14, 1970

PRELAUNCH - APOLLO 13 (ROLLOUT) - KSC

"Nighttime, ground level view of Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), showing the Apollo 13 (Spacecraft 109/Lunar Module 7/Saturn 508) space vehicle during Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT). The crew of NASA's third lunar landing mission includes astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., commander; John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot; and Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot. The Apollo 13 launch has been scheduled for 2:13 p.m. (EST), April 11, 1970."

Date: March 24, 1970