Mark 50th anniversary of Apollo 13 launch by reliving events in real time

By Georgina Torbet April 11, 2020

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13, one of the most dramatic missions in the history of space flight. Launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, the mission was intended to carry three astronauts to the moon. But two days into the mission, an oxygen tank on board the spacecraft failed and caused an explosion, venting much of the available oxygen into space. The world watched as mission control scrambled to find a way to extend the small amount of available oxygen to keep the astronauts alive for four days until the craft was able to splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean.

The mission has become renowned as “a successful failure” as even though it went terribly wrong, the crew were saved, and it renewed the public’s interest in space exploration with tens of millions of people watching the splashdown.

“Our goal 50 years ago was to save our valiant crew after sending them around the moon and return them safely to Earth,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “Our goal now is to return to the moon to stay, in a sustainable way. We are working hard to ensure that we don’t need to respond to this kind of emergency in Artemis, but to be ready to respond to any problems we don’t anticipate.”

The crewmembers of the Apollo 13 mission — The crewmembers of the Apollo 13 mission step aboard the USS Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the mission, following splashdown and recovery operations in the South Pacific Ocean. Exiting the helicopter that made the pick-up some four miles from the Iwo Jima are (from left) Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot; James A. Lovell Jr., commander; and John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot. The crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down at 12:07:44 p.m. (CST), April 17, 1970. NASA

In commemoration of the mission’s launch, NASA has created the Apollo 13 in Real Time website, where visitors can experience the launch as it happened, based on historical materials and timed exactly as it occurred fifty years ago. The materials include footage of mission control, the film shot by the astronauts, and television broadcasts from the time, along with photographs and voice recordings, all synced up to their correct place in the timeline.

“This project includes newly digitized and restored mission control audio,” the website says. “The last tapes of these recordings were discovered in the National Archives fall of 2019 and were digitized in February, 2020 and contain the time surrounding the onboard explosion. These recordings haven’t been heard since the accident investigation in 1970.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…

Emerging Tech

Meet the game-changing pitching robot that can perfectly mimic any human throw

baseball hitter swings and misses

Who’s your favorite baseball pitcher? Shane McClanahan? Sandy Alcantara? Justin Verlander? Whoever you said, two of the top sports-tech companies in the U.S. -- Rapsodo and Trajekt Sports -- have teamed up to build a robot version of them, and the results are reportedly uncannily accurate.

Okay, so we’re not talking about walking-talking-pitching standalone robots, as great a sci-fi-tinged MLB ad as that would be. However, Rapsodo and Trajekt have combined their considerable powers to throw a slew of different technologies at the problem of building a machine that's able to accurately simulate the pitching style of whichever player you want to practice batting against -- and they may just have pulled it off, too.

Outdoors

The best portable power stations

EcoFlow DELTA 2 on table at campsite for quick charging.

Affordable and efficient portable power is a necessity these days, keeping our electronic devices operational while on the go. But there are literally dozens of options to choose from, making it abundantly difficult to decide which mobile charging solution is best for you. We've sorted through countless portable power options and came up with six of the best portable power stations to keep your smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets functioning while living off the grid.
The best overall: Jackery Explorer 1000

Jackery has been a mainstay in the portable power market for several years, and today, the company continues to set the standard. With three AC outlets, two USB-A, and two USB-C plugs, you'll have plenty of options for keeping your gadgets charged.

Emerging Tech

CES 2023: HD Hyundai’s Avikus is an A.I. for autonomous boat and marine navigation

Demonstration of NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

This content was produced in partnership with HD Hyundai.
Autonomous vehicle navigation technology is certainly nothing new and has been in the works for the better part of a decade at this point. But one of the most common forms we see and hear about is the type used to control steering in road-based vehicles. That's not the only place where technology can make a huge difference. Autonomous driving systems can offer incredible benefits to boats and marine vehicles, too, which is precisely why HD Hyundai has unveiled its Avikus AI technology -- for marine and watercraft vehicles.

More recently, HD Hyundai participated in the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to demo its NeuBoat level 2 autonomous navigation system for recreational boats. The name mashes together the words "neuron" and "boat" and is quite fitting since the Avikus' A.I. navigation tech is a core component of the solution, it will handle self-recognition, real-time decisions, and controls when on the water. Of course, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes with HD Hyundai's autonomous navigation solution, which we'll dive into below -- HD Hyundai will also be introducing more about the tech at CES 2023.