Apollo 13
April 13, 1970
Something went very wrong on Apollo 13 tonight. An oxygen tank exploded 200,000 miles from Earth. Two of the three fuel cells are dead. The service module is venting into space. Three men are in a crippled spacecraft on the way to the Moon and nobody knows yet if they…
Read the full entry
Apollo 12
November 14, 1969
Apollo 12 launched today into a stormy sky. Thirty-six seconds after liftoff, lightning struck the Saturn V. Twice. The spacecraft lost power to most of its systems. Mission Control nearly called an abort. One flight controller — twenty-six-year-old John Aaron — knew exactly which switch to throw. They continued to…
Read the full entry
Apollo 1
February 15, 1967
The investigation is underway. The fire started in the pure oxygen atmosphere used in the Apollo cabin. The hatch opened inward and couldn't be opened under the internal pressure. There were flammable materials throughout the spacecraft. Reading these reports is difficult. Some of this seems like it should have been…
Read the full entry