Summary
The first two days of Apollo 13, NASA's seventh manned mission into space, was so routine that ground crews in Mission Control complained of boredom. Hours later, astronaut Jack Swigert flipped a switch to activate an oxygen cooling fan, and any serenity associated with the mission evaporated in a flash. With that fateful toggle, the oxygen tank exploded, crippling the spacecraft's service module and aborting the third mission to land men on the Moon. Over the next four days, the astronauts transformed the lunar module into a "lifeboat" of sorts, and teams of scientists and engineers scrambled to find ways to repair the damaged ship and get their men home. This eBook recounts those harrowing moments in space and the heroic efforts made to rescue the crew.
About the Author(s)
Ronald A. Reis has written young adult biographies of Eugenie Clark, Jonas Salk, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill Cody, Simón Bolívar, and Valentino, as well as books on the Dust Bowl, the Empire State Building, the New York City Subway System, African Americans and the Civil War, the World Trade Organization, the Great Depression and the New Deal, and Easter Island, all for Chelsea House. His biography of Buffalo Bill Cody won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for the best juvenile nonfiction book about the West.