This Day in History April 11, 1970

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It was on this date in 1970 that Apollo 13 took off for what would be a dangerous but successful mission.  This was to be the third moon landing mission (they never made it to the moon).  For the first couple days, this seemed like the smoothest of the Apollo missions.

And then disaster struck.  Oxygen Tank 2 blew up, and that caused tank 1 to fail as well.  At 200,000 miles from earth, the normal supply of electricity, light and water were lost.  Amazingly, a fix was found for the issues, and the astronauts arrived home safely.

If you have never seen the Tom Hanks film Apollo 13, I would highly recommend it.  In fact, I am planning right now to go out and see if I do have it amongst my videos (I think I do).  I know my daughter would love it--she is a bit of a space nut!

For more information on Apollo 13, check out these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/apollo-13.html
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_13/overview/
http://www.udel.edu/physics/scen103/ZING/apollo13pictures.html