[Apollo 13]

Apollo 13, meant to be the third mission to land humans on the moon, ran into trouble when damaged wire insulation ignited in an oxygen tank and vented the contents of both oxygen tanks in the Command Service Module Odyssey. The lunar landing was aborted and the mission objective became survival and successful return to Earth.

The crew consisting of Commander James Lovell, Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, and Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert used the Lunar Module Aquarius as a lifeboat for their four day journey around the Moon and back to Earth. A successful burn of the Descent Stage put them on the proper trajectory back to Earth.  This burn was critical, as any error or another problem could cause a possible crash into the lunar surface.

The inscription by Fred Haise pointedly sums up their mission. While the Service Module explosion cancelled their lunar landing, the crew managed to safely maneuver their severely damaged spacecraft for a flight around the Moon and avoided any possible impact. An inadequately controlled engine burn or miscalculation could have sent them to a lunar impact. 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 to return the crew to Earth safely despite seemingly insurmountable challenges. The mission stands out as a paragon of teamwork and first-class training.