On July 20, 1969, after Armstrong completed the first manned mission to the moon in human history after Apollo 11, humanity opened a new chapter in space exploration, which meant that humans had the ability to set foot on other planets other than Earth.
During Armstrong's Apollo 11 landing on the moon, astronaut Jim Lowell, like most viewers on Earth, watched his colleagues' journey to the moon on live television, and as an astronaut in the Apollo series of missions, he wished Apollo 11 all the best during the mission, while hoping that he could fly the Apollo spacecraft to the strange and familiar planet like them.
With the return of Apollo 11, NASA did not stop the pace of manned lunar exploration, in fact, they hit the iron while it was hot, more than 4 months after the return of Apollo 11, Apollo 12 as an Apollo series mission took off and went to the moon again, but to Lovell's disappointment, this time the crew list also did not have his name.
As the saying goes, the opportunity is left to those who are prepared, although the first two lunar missions Lovell failed, but due to the usual hard training, coupled with excellent professional knowledge, in the end, he was selected by the NASA top management, as the class leader of Apollo 13, leading two astronauts to the moon again.
More than 4 months after the return of Apollo 12, Apollo 13 on April 11, 1970, once again carried Saturn 5 to take off, began a new round of lunar exploration journey, facing this mission, the three astronauts on the spacecraft were extremely excited, they also walked from the audience, into the TV, became the object of live broadcasting.
Apollo 13 crew of three
Because the three astronauts considered that it was a live television broadcast, there must be thousands of viewers at this moment, watching their words and deeds in front of the TV, each one appeared energetic, and presented his best side to the audience in the camera.
But the opposite happened, because it has experienced two live moon landings, after experiencing the freshness of the beginning, the audience in front of the TV has lost interest in the live broadcast of the moon landing mission, and the uninteresting life of astronauts in a small space, anyone who has watched it twice, does not want to watch the third time.
Based on this, the NASA ground command center cut off the live broadcast signal and only maintained communication with the ground command center, and in order not to discourage the enthusiasm of the three astronauts, the ground command center did not tell the astronauts all this (this is like those who think they are very hot, but they .........). ）。
But what NASA did not expect was that 2 days later, Apollo 13 once again became the focus of national attention, this time not for the cheers of successful landing, but for the hearts of thousands of people, on April 13th, when an astronaut was carrying out operational instructions, he suddenly felt the spacecraft tremble and heard a violent explosion (in the West, it is not unreasonable to hate the number 13).
As the commander, Lovell quickly reported the situation to the ground command center, which quickly reduced the oxygen pressure of the spacecraft, judging that the oxygen tank on the service module exploded, and then only three astronauts went to the lunar module to take shelter.
When the three astronauts hid in the lunar module, they saw through the porthole a scene that they would never forget, due to the explosion of the oxygen tube, the outside of the service module has been blown up beyond recognition, and the three astronauts at this time are no longer facing the problem of landing on the moon, but the problem of life and death.
The condition of the service cabin that was damaged by the explosion at that time
Looking at the moon that is getting closer and closer, Lovell's mood can not be calmed for a long time, this is the second time he has reached the sky above the moon, once piloted the Apollo 8 spacecraft, flying around the moon, but this time it was different from the last time, this time not only has the regret of not being able to land on the moon, but also with the panic of life and death.
After the news that the oxygen tank exploded at Apollo 13 and the three astronauts were uncertain about their lives and deaths, the major media rushed to report that although Lovell, like Armstrong, had once again become a target of public attention, he also lost his original spirit in the face of the current predicament, not to mention that everything they experienced could not be seen by the outside world.
To ensure their safe return, the Apollo 13 spacecraft had cut off most of the instrument's power, leaving only a window of external contact, and after circling the moon, the spacecraft returned by inertia, like a home 380,000 kilometers away.
At this time, the situation of the three astronauts was terrible, due to the explosion of the oxygen tank, although there was oxygen to escape to the earth, and the entire spacecraft was using hydrogen and oxygen reaction to generate electricity and provide drinking water, in the case of insufficient oxygen in the spacecraft, most of the instruments were forced to shut down, not to mention used to adjust the temperature to keep warm.
In this case, the whole spacecraft is like a big refrigerator, and the sausages eaten by the spaceship are frozen like iron rods, and the three astronauts did not bring cotton jackets for the winter, you can imagine how difficult the situation was at that time, fortunately, the astronauts' physical fitness was excellent, they were carefully selected elites, and they had to resist in such an environment for four days.
Even so, one astronaut had a high fever in a cold environment, but with the belief that he must go home, and the encouragement of other astronauts, he finally persevered.
Although the food on the spacecraft is not a problem, but due to the lack of oxygen on the spacecraft, there is a problem with drinking water, so the astronauts can only drink 1/5 of the usual amount of water, and later after the three astronauts returned to the earth, when weighing weight, the average weight of each person decreased by about 30 pounds.
Apollo 13 astronauts make emergency devices
If the physical pain can still be endured, then the psychological longing for the family, as well as the uncertain situation of life and death, is the most painful torture for the three astronauts, although they have become irritable and anxious, but fortunately they have undergone strict training, adhered to a bottom line, and did not collapse because of it.
After 4 days of long journey, they have been close to the earth, but due to the explosion of the oxygen tank, resulting in the deviation of the spacecraft's orbit, in the absence of oxygen in the spacecraft, they only have more than 30 seconds to adjust the orbit, if the angle is too large, it will fall directly into the earth's atmosphere, the consequence is the destruction of the machine, and if the angle into the atmosphere is too small, they will be ejected by the atmosphere, becoming a man-made object that cannot return home, floating in the space of space.
In the face of such pressure, as the commander of Lowell decided to bear the pressure himself, personally controlled, in the first 30 seconds, the spacecraft due to the attitude deflection is too large, the spacecraft orbit has not been adjusted, at this time, although facing the cold environment, but several people have bean-sized sweat particles on their foreheads.
Exploding oxygen tank
Footage taken before the Apollo 13 service module was discarded
In the last few seconds, under the slightly trembling adjustment, they finally got the blessing of heaven, adjusted the angle, saw the earth outside the spaceship, and the stones in their hearts finally fell halfway, and the last half looked at Providence.
Three astronauts climbed into the return module, discarded the command module and the lunar module, fell into the Earth's atmosphere, because the previous return capsule in a cold environment, water vapor is frozen inside the instrument, at this time in the high temperature of the return capsule and the atmosphere friction, have melted, dripping on the astronaut's face, and the last major thrilling situation they experienced, is the melting water ice, resulting in a precision instrument short circuit, if the interior of the burning, then they suffer for 4 days, all persistence is meaningless.
Fortunately, Lady Luck finally sided with them, although there were melting water ice dripping, but did not cause a short circuit of the instrument, they returned to the ground safely, when the moment they came out of the return capsule, the audience in front of the TV set all cheered, really under the efforts of the astronauts and the ground command center, in the situation of death, achieved a thrilling escape.
The Apollo 13 return capsule landed safely in the sea
Conclusion: When entering a desperate situation, as long as you do not give up, you will win a glimmer of life.
Later investigated the cause of the explosion of the Apollo 13 oxygen tank, it was found that this oxygen tank was an alternate oxygen tank of Apollo 10, when it was stored, it accidentally fell and collided with the ground, resulting in a trace of damage to the interior, before being loaded into Apollo 13, when inspecting this oxygen tank, due to wrong operation, it was heated for more than 8 hours, resulting in the internal coating falling off and further damage.
If there may be no problem in the Earth, but when entering the vacuum environment of outer space, its internal pressure increases sharply, and when the command switch is turned on, it is finally overwhelmed after two damages, and finally explodes.