Space Exploration

[Apollo 13]

Apollo 13 Flight Plan Signed and Inscribed by CAPCOM Jack Lousma, LMP Fred Haise, and Flight Director Gene Kranz

Lot Closed

July 27, 03:06 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

[Apollo 13]

Apollo 13 Flight Plan. AS-508/CSM-109/LM-7. Houston, TX: NASA/ Flight Planning Branch, Flight Crew Support Division, Manned Spacecraft Center, March 16, 1970. Engineering notations and corrections throughout in black felt tip ink in unknown hand, presumably by "CARTER."

SIGNED AND INSCRIBED IN BLACK INK FROM TOP: "13, We've got one more item for you when you get a chance. We'd like you to stir up your cryotanks...This is Houston. Say again, please...Roger. We copy your venting." JACK LOUSMA Apollo 13 CAPCOM; "FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!" EUGENE F. KRANZ/ Apollo 13 Flight Director; "And we had a pretty large bang associated with the caution and warning there." FRED HAISE Apollo 13 LMP.

A FLIGHT PLAN FROM APOLLO 13 SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY SOME OF ITS KEY PLAYERS IN GETTING THE CREW BACK SAFELY

The Apollo 13 mission was meant to culminate in a third lunar landing, with Mission Commander James "Jim" Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise voyaging to the lunar surface on board the Lunar Module Aquarius while Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert orbited in the Command Module Odyssey. Things did not go according to plan. At just under 56 hours into the mission, an oxygen tank explosion resulted in a major loss to electrical power to the Command and Service Module, forcing the crew to cancel the lunar landing and move into the Aquarius, using it as a lifeboat in order to survive a four day journey around the moon and return back to Earth. With people on the ground from both NASA and the contractor team working around the clock, an alternate flight plan was developed, and various procedures were developed resulting in the safe return of the Crew despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The mission stands out as a paragon of teamwork and first-class training.