Apollo 13 disaster

Memories

Apollo 13 disaster

Lynda 12/06/2004, 8:06 PM

I remember returning home from work one evening and went straight to my television to turn the 6 0'clock news on and was greeted with the sight of the Apollo spacecraft exploding. I was still standing there with coat on and bags in hand - I was so shocked at what had happened I just stood there to hear the details. I felt so sorry for all those left behind and such a waste of life for those astronauts.

Lynda

Technology is great when it works.

Re: Apollo 13 disaster

Matty 13/06/2004, 5:58 PM
I was at work in my office when the environmental manager dashed in. His wife had phoned to say the disaster had happened. This chap asked me to plug in my radio and then about eight more folks came in to listen. Eventually, I gave them the radio - too much to take.

RE: Apollo 13 disaster

kelvin smith 11/10/2005, 9:14 AM

Apollo 13 wasn't a disaster ! All the Astronauts returned to Earth ok.

Maybe you are thinking of Apollo 1 or the Challenger & Columbia shuttle disasters

RE: Apollo 13 disaster

Lynda 14/10/2005, 8:43 AM

Quote: Apollo 13 wasn't a disaster ! All the Astronauts returned to Earth ok. Maybe you are thinking of Apollo 1 or the Challenger & Columbia shuttle disasters

Yes, Kelvin, you are right!

I found this website page on Google and the photo on the right is similar to the picture I remember on the 6 o'clcok news on the evening in question.

http://www.life.com/Life/space/challenger/challenger02.html

Lynda

Technology is great when it works.

Re: RE: Apollo 13 disaster

Jim Barley 02/06/2008, 11:20 AM

Lynda wrote:

Apollo 13 wasn't a disaster ! All the Astronauts returned to Earth ok. Maybe you are thinking of Apollo 1 or the Challenger & Columbia shuttle disasters

Yes, Kelvin, you are right!

I found this website page on Google and the photo on the right is similar to the picture I remember on the 6 o'clcok news on the evening in question.

http://www.life.com/Life/space/challenger/challenger02.html

In many respects, the safe return of the Apollo 13 astronauts was a major triumph for Nasa. It must be remembered that these days there is more computing power behind the dashboard of modern cars or your average scientific calculator than the room-sized Apollo computer with its 36k memory! The accident in the service module would not have been anticipated, and therefore there was probably no Plan B - if you want some idea of the tension in the command module and on the ground, watch the film "Apollo 13" with Tom Hanks playing the part of Jim Lovell, the mission commander.