Apollo 13 Research Paper

Caution! Apollo 13: Exploration in Space will change many people's minds about the importance of the mission. Many people believe that the Apollo 13 mission to the moon was the most miraculous event in history. During this event, Apollo 13 set the foundation for the space program's growth. Apollo 13's crew encountered many obstacles during the mission leading NASA to take stronger precautions for future missions. Apollo 13: Exploration in Space examines the mission, the problems that occurred and how it affected future space exploration.
Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970, at 1:13 p.m. with Jim and his crew members from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are many different ways that the number '13' worked into the launch. For example,

"During this mission, talent, intelligence, teamwork, courage and sheer luck saved these amazing men" (Al-Khatib 2). These three astronauts relied on makeshift equipment to survive. Jim A. Lovell was the Commander of Apollo 13 and retired from the United States Navy. He was on four missions, including Apollo 13. Fred W. Haise flew test flights and was the Lunar Module Pilot, making Apollo 13 his first mission. John "Jack" L. Swigert was scheduled to be the backup command module pilot for Apollo 13 but was moved to the prime crew 72 hours before the launch in place of Ken Mattingly who had been exposed to measles. He was on four missions, including Apollo 13. Fred W. Haise flew test flights and was the Lunar Module Pilot, making Apollo 13 his first mission. John "Jack" L. Swigert was the Command Module Pilot replacing Ken Mattingly on this mission which became his first mission (Smithsonian 3). Ken Mattingly was removed the crew two days before the launch because he had been exposed to Rubella, German measles. He was the Apollo 13 Prime Command Module but was assigned to the backup crew due to a Rubella encounter. He became the Command Module Pilot during Apollo 16. Gene Kranz was NASA's lead flight director for White Team at Mission Control (Lovell 358). He led a team that worked around the clock to rescue Apollo 13

The crew returned safely but did not make it to the moon. The Apollo 13: Exploration in Space examined the mission, the problems that occurred and how it affected future exploration. Furthermore, "Fred Haise was going back to the moon on Apollo 18, but his mission was canceled because of budget cuts; he never flew in space again. Nor did Jack Swigert, who left the astronaut corps and was elected to Congress from the state of Colorado. But he died of cancer before he was able to take office. Ken Mattingly orbited the moon as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 16, and flew the Space Shuttle, having never gotten the measles. Gene Kranz retired as Director of Flight Operations just not long ago. And many other members of Mission Control have gone on to other things, but some are still there today"(Hutchinson