Verkehrshaus der Schweiz: Apollo 13: Out of the crisis with teamwork

Apollo 13: Out of the crisis with teamwork

It had been less than a year since the US astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin had been the first humans to set foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Interest had already waned when James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise set off on Apollo 13 for the third moon landing on 11 April 1970. After almost 56 hours of flight time, this changed abruptly: an oxygen tank exploded.

A story from the Swiss Museum of Transport magazine September 2018

"Houston, we've had a problem," the astronauts reported to the control centre, as if the problem had already been solved. But the damage was devastating: the power and water supply to the service module would soon fail. The control centre and engineers throughout the USA searched feverishly but systematically for solutions to bring the crew back to Earth safely. They had the astronauts transferred to the docked lunar module, which actually only had space and supplies for two people. To save energy, almost all the on-board equipment was switched off, including the navigation system and heating. To gain time for further planning, the spaceship was sent around the moon. Accelerated by its gravity, Apollo 13 shot back to Earth. The freezing and overtired astronauts had to make delicate course corrections manually. They only transferred to the command module shortly before arrival. The service module and the lunar module were jettisoned.

If the heat shield was also damaged, the capsule would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. But after three interminably long minutes of radio silence, the astronauts came back on the line. The parachutes opened and the command module splashed down in the Pacific. The whole world breathed a sigh of relief. Apollo 13 is regarded as a prime example of level-headed leadership, teamwork and a talent for improvisation in a crisis. The (not entirely accurate) quote "Houston, we have a problem" entered common parlance thanks to the 1995 feature film "Apollo 13". Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise will be speaking at the Space Conference 2018 at the Swiss Museum of Transport. This is not his first visit to the museum. A "goodwill tour" initiated by US President Nixon had already taken the Apollo 13 crew to Europe and the Swiss Museum of Transport in the year of the disaster. Accompanied by many onlookers, Lovell, Swigert and Haise took a tour of the museum and visited the planetarium on 7 October 1970. A first day cover with a stamp designed by Hans Erni was also issued for the occasion. In his letter of thanks, the Chief of Protocol at the White House wrote that the reception at the Museum of Transport was one of the best of the entire trip.