Apollo Program · Aborted lunar landing — successful crew return

Apollo 13

Aborted landing

Launch: 1970-04-11 19:13 UTC
Return: 1970-04-17 18:07 UTC
Duration: 5 days 22 hours 54 minutes

Mission summary

Apollo 13 was to be the third lunar landing, targeted at Fra Mauro. Fifty-five hours after launch, an oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded, crippling the CSM's electrical and life-support systems and forcing an abort. Lovell, Swigert, and Haise moved into the Lunar Module 'Aquarius' and used it as a lifeboat for the four-day return, looping around the far side of the Moon at the highest altitude ever reached by humans (~254 km). Mission Control's improvisation under flight director Gene Kranz — including the famous CSM-to-LM lithium hydroxide adapter built from spacecraft materials — brought all three crew home safely. The Fra Mauro target was reassigned to Apollo 14.

Crew

Astronaut	Prior missions	Subsequent missions
James A. Lovell Jr. Commander	Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8	None — final flight; only person to fly to the Moon twice without landing
John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr. Command Module Pilot	None (first flight; replaced Ken Mattingly three days before launch over rubella exposure)	None — died of cancer 1982 before assuming Congressional seat
Fred W. Haise Jr. Lunar Module Pilot	None (first flight)	None — Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (1977)

Astronaut

Prior missions

Subsequent missions

James A. Lovell Jr.

Commander

Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8

None — final flight; only person to fly to the Moon twice without landing

John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr.

Command Module Pilot

None (first flight; replaced Ken Mattingly three days before launch over rubella exposure)

None — died of cancer 1982 before assuming Congressional seat

Fred W. Haise Jr.

Lunar Module Pilot

None (first flight)

None — Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (1977)

Launch vehicle

Saturn V SA-508

Objectives

Originally: third lunar landing, at Fra Mauro.
After accident: return all three crew safely to Earth using the LM as a lifeboat.

Milestones

When	Event
1970-04-11 19:13 UTC	Launched from LC-39A. The S-II second stage suffered a center-engine cutoff partway through the burn; the four outer engines and the S-IVB compensated and the mission continued. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html
1970-04-13 03:08 UTC	On the way to the Moon, an oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded after a routine 'cryo stir', destroying one of the CSM's two oxygen tanks and damaging the other plus two of three fuel cells. Swigert's transmission: 'Houston, we've had a problem.' https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_13a_Summary.htm
1970-04-13 to 1970-04-17	Crew moved into LM 'Aquarius' and used it as a lifeboat. The LM's descent engine performed two trajectory-correction burns; carbon-dioxide buildup was solved by an improvised CSM-to-LM lithium hydroxide adapter ('the mailbox'). https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_13a_Summary.htm
1970-04-15	Lovell, Swigert, and Haise looped around the far side of the Moon at an altitude of ~254 km, the highest altitude ever reached by humans (record still standing). https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_13a_Summary.htm
1970-04-17 18:07 UTC	Splashed down safely in the Pacific; recovered by USS Iwo Jima. https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_13a_Summary.htm

Primary sources

Last updated 2026-05-09 15:17 UTC.