During their flight to the moon...
the crew of Apollo 13 made a live color television broadcast...
back to Earth that was largely ignored.
Moments after the end of the TV show, an explosion occurred...
which put the lives of the crew in danger...
and made it impossible for any further pictures to be seen back home.
The remaining dramatic days of the flight played themselves out...
by way of only the faint radio voices of the crew...
the sketchy telemetry data from the crippled spacecraft...
and the reports from the media that suddenly found itself...
as blind to the events as the rest of the world...
a world which had become bored with TV shows from outer space.
One of the biggest stories of the year became one with no TV pictures...
only talking heads...
all waiting to see whether three human beings would survive...
a voyage from the Earth to the moon.
Out the right window now, you can see our objective:
the moon.
I'll zoom in on it and see if this brings it in better.
We see it, 13.
It's beginning to look bigger to us now.
I can see quite distinctly some of the features with the naked eye.
So far, though, the moon looks pretty gray with some white spots.
Roger.
Okay, Houston, for the benefit of our television viewers...
we've just about completed our inspection of Aquarius...
and now we're proceeding back into Odyssey.
Okay, Jim. We think you ought to conclude it from there now.
Any time you want to terminate TV, we're all set to go.
It's been a great show.
Roger.
This is the crew of Apollo 13...
wishing everyone there a nice evening.
Good night.
Okay, 13, we've got a few housekeeping details for you to take care of.
Go ahead, Houston.
Press Center. No, I can talk.
Nothing.
Roll right to 0-6-0 and null your rates.
Copy that. 0-6-0.
So, what are you doing for dinner?
We'd like you to check your C-4 thruster isolation valve.
Okay, Jack.
How about lunch?
We've got one more item for you, 13.
When you get a chance, we'd like you to stir your cryo tanks.
Okay, Houston, stand-by.
Yeah, we got space.
As a matter of fact, we've got a whole lot of space.
Yeah. That's why we call it the Space Center.
Dave, who delivers good take-out?
Okay, Houston, I believe we have a problem here.
This is Houston. Say again, please.
Houston, we've had a problem.
We've had a main B bus undervolt.
Okay, 13. Main B undervolt.
All right, Houston. We had a pretty large bang with caution and warnings.
- What does that mean, a "bang"? - I don't know. Some kind of jolt.
- They had a main B bus undervolt. - You're kidding.
- They're losing power? - I don't know.
-Could it be an instrumentation problem? - I think it's more serious.
- Lovell said they're venting something. - What the hell could they be venting?
They could be running out of oxygen and electricity.
- It could have been a meteorite. - It could have been a reindeer.
- You'll have to improvise. - Why?
- I just got McAfee out of bed. - Emmett, you're on in 90.
I need handbooks for the command, service, lunar modules.
They're not having problems with the LEM.
They'll have to go somewhere if Odyssey keeps losing oxygen.
- Yeah, but-- - Mr. Seaborn.
You know Warren Moburg, new vice president of the news division.
I've been a great fan of yours ever since radio.
They're powering down Odyssey and moving to the LEM.
- Get me mission rules. - We're on it.
Julie, check the wire. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.
You're busy, but let me introduce you to Brett Hutchins from the Chicago bureau.
It's an honor, sir.
I'm here to do a piece on the Astros, the baseball team.
He's not just a sports reporter. Give this boy any kind of story--
Excuse me.
Glad to see you're working the upper management.
A mole at CBS says they've got something about trajectory and spin.
- What about trajectory and spin? - I don't know.
- Transcripts. - One minute.
- Somebody better have notes. - I did them.
- We don't have it, son. - CBS is saying a possible meteorite.
- It wasn't a meteorite. - How do you know?
Larry, there are 48,700 electrical connections...
in the command module alone.
- Forty. - The chances of one of them fritzing...
are a lot better than being hit by a meteorite.
Here it is, but it's totally routine.
They asked them to roll right at 0-6-0 and null--
- Null their rates? - Yeah, that's it.
- What else? - Something here about C-4 thrusters.
- Check C-4 thruster valve? - Yeah.
- Bingo! - Coming to us in 30.
- Who are you calling? - A little birdie in the ops center.
They've had trouble with those thrusters before.
Ten cents says something inside that ship blew up.
- There is no time. - Don't stand there.
Find out what kind of crap they're feeding Cronkite.
It is not known yet just what happened.
Perhaps it was hit by a meteoroid. Perhaps there was an explosion.
- Anything I can do? - Get me the Astros-Cubs score.
- What do you think? - I hope it wasn't a meteorite.
It doesn't matter. Those poor guys are screwed.
No one can predict these things precisely.
There appears to be no better than a ten percent chance...
that the crew of Apollo 13 will make it home alive.
Rosen's predicting they won't make it back.
I just need a yes or a no.
Can you look me in the eye and say this came from outside the ship?
We're on in 15. What's he doing?
I don't know what he's doing.
Sorry to intrude, but we're on in ten.
Thank you.
You owe me a dime.
- I never took the bet. - Is he always like this?
Emmett Seaborn is following that story.
Apollo 13 is America's 23rd manned space flight, and tonight it appears...
that no previous mission has ever posed a greater risk to the lives of its crew.
NASA's flight controllers, having successfully guided four missions--
It's Brett Hutchins. Are you watching your TV?
I'd love to be out there. Who loves baseball more than me?
I have to stay here and pitch Moburg a piece on the astronauts' families.
Yeah, I know they're under wraps. Screw NASA. It's worth a shot, right?
- Great. Yeah. - As a result...
the astronauts will likely use the lunar module's engine...
to send them on a slingshot course...
- around the moon and back to Earth. - Thank you. Good-bye.
But is the relatively tiny Aquarius up to the task?
That, unfortunately, is a question that no one can answer.
13, Houston, we're water critical in the LEM...
so we'd like to use as little as possible.
We'd like to make a free return maneuver of a 16-foot-per-second burn...
in about 37 minutes.
Could you give us a little bit more time?
We're working up a PAD for it. What do you think about doing it at that time?
We'll give it a try, Houston, if that's all we got.
Press Center. Please hold.
They're not telling us anything.
I can't make 15 minutes.
Copy.
We've tentatively scheduled the briefing for 11:30.
- Is that Houston time? - Yes.
That's 15 minutes after the final.
I'm sorry. We're doing the best we can.
- How do I get a desk? - Good luck.
Press Center, please hold. Sam.
- Not now, Shirley. - New York Times wants an exclusive.
- Tell them I'll call later. - Call their office.
Hal, are the astronauts out of oxygen?
If they were, they wouldn't be breathing.
- So, they are breathing? - Yeah.
- Are they wearing space suits? - They're in their shirt sleeves.
- Excuse me. Yeah? - I have calls from Reuters and the AP.
If we don't handle this thing, it will spread like kudzu.
"Crew equipped with suicide pills"?
Are suicide pills included in the crew rations?
{{}}
Are those the same little pills the CIA uses?
Guys, there are no suicide pills, period.
I'll cover all this in greater detail at the press conference. Excuse me.
The nets want to patch into the loop.
- Cronkite wants to remote from ops. - I'll deal with Cronkite.
Protocol is flying Jack Swigert's folks into town.
We're to make sure there's no press and--
- And that. - How did he get here?
- Probably through a sewer. - They're finally putting you to work.
- What are you doing here, Stan? - I don't know if you've heard...
but I'm now the vice president's press representative...
for the National Aeronautics and Space Council.
I heard. What are you doing here?
Surely, you haven't forgotten Vice President Agnew's visit tomorrow.
Yeah, I guess it did slip my mind.
People, we'll try to move this along as quickly as possible...
because, obviously, we have matters to attend to in Mission Control.
I assume that Deke Slayton, Chris Kraft...
and Colonel James McDivitt need no introduction.
The command module's never been powered down in flight before.
Are you certain you can power it back up?
While it's true that we've never done it before...
every time we've pushed the hardware, it's done more than we thought it would.
We're confident that this is going to work.
- The astronauts' families-- - Raise your hands, please. Max.
Deke, any more information on what may have caused the damage...
to the service module?
Frankly, that is still a mystery.
We probably won't know anything...
until we jettison the service module and get a good look at the thing.
With three astronauts crowded into the LEM...
isn't there a chance the CO2 levels could get dangerously high?
That is something we are looking at.
We are studying ways to fit Odyssey's lithium hydroxide filters into Aquarius.
We don't have an answer yet.
- Will the astronauts' families-- - What about the reports...
that the crew will run out of water and oxygen before reaching Earth?
Let me answer that.
Apollo 13 is on the non-free return trajectory...
it needed to reach its target at Fra Mauro.
Our first priority is to get it on a slingshot route...
that will use the moon's gravity...
to whip it around the backside and bring them back home.
We're overdue for the happy line.
Let's give them 20.
To answer Jerry's question...
it will still take four days for the crew to get home...
and we are concerned about consumables.
That's why we'll have a second speed-up burn...
a PC plus two...
two hours after the craft has reached the far side of the moon.
It will be about 8:00 this evening.
- If the situation remains stable... - Ignition.
we'll have the thing under control...
and return the crew safely to Earth within three days.
- Liftoff. - Sir!
Forty percent.
Aquarius, you're looking good.
Auto shutdown. You're looking at 1685 now.
You're go in the residuals. No trim required.
No trim. ls that right?
That's affirmative. No trim required.
Listen, I know we scheduled that interview with Jane tomorrow...
but we'll have to postpone.
- I totally understand. - I'll make it up to you.
When this thing is all over, you'll get the first exclusive.
- That's great. I appreciate that. - Sure.
- Can we talk about the press pool? - Emmett, don't start that.
We understand that you need to bring these men home.
We don't want to compromise that, but we're in the dark.
You want pool reports from the control center?
Mission Control's across the courtyard 100 yards from here...
where we aren't allowed to be.
Unless we know what you know when you know it, we'll start getting paranoid.
We'll have a press pool of two...
one print, one broadcast, rotated every two hours...
in the visitors' gallery where they can monitor the flight director's loop.
We hear everything he hears...
but no taping or broadcast of the flight controller's communications.
Damn it, Hal. You know it's the right thing to do.
- What about the families? - I'm sorry?
Will NASA make the families available for interviews...
or comments as the situation unfolds?
Brett, these individuals are private citizens.
Oh, please. "Private citizens"?
For the last ten years these private citizens...
have availed themselves of free clothes, free cars and junkets.
NASA paraded them around like prized poodles.
Now when the going gets tough, the tough issue a quarantine?
Uh-huh.
Interview the families when the loved ones are safely home.
- I think we all understand that, Hal. - Actually, I think it's important--
Like I said, it's just not gonna be a problem.
- Appreciate that. - Thanks, Hal.
- Mr. Hutchings-- - Hutchins. Call me Brett.
- What are you doing? - Just trying to get a story.
Look, son, these family members are ordinary people, regular folks.
Who signed up to be historic figures courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.
Nobody put a gun to their head and made them do this.
Don't the shareholders have a right to know the real cost of the space program?
There are better ways to build a relationship with NASA.
I don't want a relationship with NASA.
Do your job however you do it, but keep it out of my corner.
I'm trying to get something accomplished here.
Me too.
I'm standing in front of the house...
of Commander Jim Lovell, the astronaut who's trapped in orbit.
What's your name?
How do you spell it?
- Should we get this? - The paper boy?
Why don't we just interview their dog?
This is ridiculous.
It's the paper boy.
Good work, morons.
Give me a couple minutes.
Hi, I'm Brett Hutchins.
Are you one of the reporters?
Yeah.
My mom told me not to talk to any reporters.
That's fine. I was--
I'm in a bind, and I wanted to know if I can use your telephone?
My mom told me to keep the reporters off our property.
Of course. That's good.
I wouldn't want you to disobey your mom.
But I'll be real fast. I'll be on and off, you know?
Like a jackrabbit.
What's your name?
Doris.
That's my mother's name.
At the Lovell household, the vigil continues.
Each passing moment bringing new hope and new terrors.
A mother comforting a young son...
pointing the path of his father's desperately-prayed-for return.
- Stop. Did you shoot this from a tree? - How did you know?
How do we know they're not pointing at the clouds saying, "I see a horsey"?
- It's obvious what they're saying. - If you read lips.
Larry, this is brilliant reporting.
- This is reporting? - Yes.
Houston, we're burning 40 percent.
Houston, copy.
One hundred percent.
Roger, Aquarius. You're looking good.
Aquarius, you were looking good at two minutes and still looking good.
Roger.
Don't forget descent rate one off. Ten seconds to go.
This is Apollo Control at 79 hours, 28 minutes.
- The crew of Apollo 13 is currently-- - Roger. Shutdown.
Are you reading our 1640, Houston?
We're reading it. Good burn, Aquarius.
What's happening here?
History.
Now we want to power down as soon as possible.
Roger. Understand.
Suggest you just read off the circuit breakers...
you want us to power down, as you did yesterday for us.
We have a procedure ready to send up to you here in about two minutes.
Let us know when you're all ready to take it.
Just going to the head, son.
I'm sorry, sir. You can't leave the area without an escort.
If you can, just wait till the next shift.
Are you telling me I gotta wait an hour to take a piss?
Of course not.
Thanks.
You look as bad as I feel.
Let's not do this again sometime soon.
Paul.
Don't ask.
People keep forgetting how cold it is up there.
It's hard to think straight when it's that cold.
Let's talk about the nuke problem.
How'd you know about that?
First of all, I would not characterize it a "nuke problem."
All I know is LEM's got a nuclear reactor on board.
Technically, but it's got less than eight pounds of plutonium.
It's the battery for the lunar surface experiments.
-But instead of leaving it on the moon-- - It's flying home to mama.
The boys at the Atomic Energy Commission are about to go ape shit.
Is that what you're saying?
Apparently, the AEC doesn't think it makes for good public relations...
to bring home radioactive material.
Look, this battery is encased to survive a collision...
or explosion without contaminating anything.
As long as it doesn't bonk somebody on the head.
Are you gonna quote me?
For Christ's sake, give me a little credit. What's the plan?
The plan is to throw a wrinkle into a mission...
that's already got 11,000 too many wrinkles in it.
It's like: Forget about the astronauts, we got politics to worry about.
What I'm asking you is: What do they want you to do about it?
We're floating an idea to adjust the trajectory so we can dump the sucker...
in the deepest trench in the Pacific.
If we don't have enough to worry about already.
Emmett says he has a major break.
Something about nuclear radiation and a trench and the LEM.
- He thinks New York should cut in. - Your call.
Yeah, I know.
Maybe we should save this for the six.
I'll talk to you later.
Aquarius, is the noise any better now?
- Negative. - How do you read us now?
We still have noise. I'll tell you what we need.
Get the right procedures here before we get all balled up.
Okay, Jim, we'll look at it some more.
Freddo, I'm afraid this will be the last moon mission for a long time.
Do you agree with Commander Lovell's assessment that...
this will be our last flight to the moon?
I'm sure we've all been in situations...
where we've found ourselves under pressure...
and we make a comment that we might have phrased differently...
under other circumstances.
Having said that, there are...
a lot of questions that we need answers to--
- Didn't Agnew cancel his visit? - Yeah.
So, what's he doing here?
- Emmett's story about the AEC-- - Your exclusive.
- Deep background, of course. - Okay, shoot.
This administration is urging NASA...
to develop an unmanned probe to Neptune.
A probe to Neptune?
Find some room in today's story for that.
We have these three guys who may wind up orbiting Neptune themselves...
so column inches are a little tight...
but I'll keep you in mind.
Your loss.
- Mr. Craig. - Yes.
I enjoyed your piece on the Lovell family.
Good to hear it 'cause...
I understand you're looking to plant a story about a probe to Neptune.
As a matter of fact, I am.
I know a way I can make it worth your while.
- Mrs. Swigert. Dr. Swigert. - Yes.
- And you're? - Jeff Jordy, sir.
I'm with the NASA Office of Protocol. Welcome to Houston.
I'm sorry about the circumstances. I hope you have a pleasant flight.
I just hope we didn't miss them. Come on!
- Just go! Excuse us! Let's go! - I can't go.
There are the Swigerts right now. Come on! Go!
Thank you, Stanley Craig.
Hi, Dr. and Mrs. Swigert. Brett Hutchins, NTC. How do you do?
Get in okay? Safe and sound?
Administration officials say they remain committed to space exploration.
This aired just after the press conference this morning.
...their intentions to endorse an unmanned mission to Neptune...
sometime in the near future.
Why is Brett Hutchins shilling for Stanley Craig?
Sam, Jeff Jordy for you on line two.
Thanks, Shirl.
Langfitt.
Hold on.
Guess who just ambushed Jack Swigert's folks at the airport?
At Mission Control, I'm Brett Hutchins.
I know Jack's doing what he loves the most...
and I know he's in the best of hands: God's hands.
You son of a bitch. Don't you think these people have been through enough?
- We got to get him out of there. - I think he gives it drama.
Lose it, please. Come on.
Brett, they want you on remote in 23 minutes.
Yes.
We're leaving. Now.
I can finish this. Trust me. Go ahead.
Edit three. Hold on.
It's Emmett Seaborn for you.
He's not here. Right.
There's a story that remains untold, and that is the story...
of the excruciating toll on the families of these three brave men.
Thank you. The untold story of the excruciating toll on the families--
This afternoon I had an exclusive interview...
with the parents of command module pilot Jack Swigert.
They're coming to us in 90.
- Sarah. - How's my level?
- I need a favor, son. - We're on in 60.
I need you to pull this story.
Excuse me?
We're both in this for the long haul.
- What's going on? - Hell if I know.
- What are you talking about? - Son, you don't want to burn bridges.
- Thank you for your advice, but-- - No, I mean...
to ambush a defenseless, old couple like that...
is beneath the dignity of our profession.
I'd love to debate ethics in journalism right now, but I have a job to do.
- There's a camera over your shoulder-- - Yeah?
- Thank you. How are my levels? - We're on top of it.
Get him out of there.
Tell Larry we're pulling the Swigerts footage.
- What? - What?
- We'll just rewrite your lead. - Damn it!
I'm just trying to help you, son.
- Nobody wants to see a mother in pain. - They do if it's news!
That's not news! It's invasion of privacy!
You think America wants to know about PC burns and passive thermal rolls?
That's not news, man! That is Sominex!
Now, please, leave me alone and just let me do my job!
Ten.
Five, four...
three, two--
Thank you, Howard. A few hundred yards from where I'm standing...
over 1,000 journalists from 83 countries are monitoring every beat and tick...
of this star-crossed mission.
But the untold story remains the excruciating toll...
the last few days have had on the families...
of these three very brave men.
I believe in the space program.
I believe it's worthy.
I believe this country needs heroes.
But I think it's not just the astronauts...
it's all the men at NASA.
They're all heroes.
And I know that Jack would--
That's a great piece of film.
It's been said that Apollo represents the greatest engineering achievement...
in the history of mankind.
This, we're told, is the pride of our civilization...
- the triumph of technology over nature. - Hit us while we're down.
But Apollo 13 teaches us...
that the price of technology is measured not in dollars...
but in a mother's love for her son.
At Mission Control, I'm Brett Hutchins.
Kid can't even write in English, for God's sake. Listen to this:
"The price of technology is measured not in dollars...
but in a mother's love for her son."
If he keeps this up, they'll shut us out.
- In ten. - I got to go.
From our Houston bureau where Emmett Seaborn is following that story.
The astronauts of Apollo 13 face new uncertainties...
as they prepare for tomorrow's fiery descent through the Earth's atmosphere.
The first big test will come early tomorrow...
when the crew brings Odyssey's electrical systems--
- What do I say to him? - Just tell him it's the assignment.
I don't think it's gonna wash.
Don't worry about it.
- When do you think we'll know that? - We should know that in a few hours.
Thanks, Emmett.
- And we're clear. - And we're out.
New York would like you to stay in the studio tomorrow.
- Here? - Yeah.
They think it would be better if you were holding down the fort here...
and if Brett or somebody fed the descent reports into you from Mission Control.
Feeds them to me? Who's on air?
- You both are, but-- - Then he feeds them to New York.
That's where the show originates.
What am I doing?
Providing perspective.
You could take it up with New York.
I shouldn't have to beg.
Aquarius, Houston.
Go ahead.
Okay, here's the big story.
Your attitude looks good except in rolls...
so we'd like you to do the following:
In minimal impulse pings, we'd like you to trim to zero pitch...
which is about where you are now...
to 008 degrees in roll...
which is about 16 degrees from your present roll attitude...
and to zero degrees in yaw, which is about where you are now.
We'd like you to do the body access align 400 plus 5-400--
Could you help me? I'm not sure--
How does that sound? Over.
Are you saying I'm rolled the wrong way?
That's right, Jim. I'm sorry.
Apollo 13 is 45,000 miles from Earth...
and moving at 7,000 miles an hour.
Its course now adjusted so we should see it land in the Pacific...
some five hours from now.
The helicopter carrier Iwo Jima is on station there.
The weather, which has been on-again, off-again...
is now on again.
Some of the spacecraft's most critical moments are approaching.
In about 20 minutes, at 7:23 Houston time...
the astronauts will jettison their crippled service module.
At 10:53, they will cast off the lunar lander...
that has been their lifeboat ever since the power failed on the main ship...
some 82 hours ago.
What we don't know in the final hours of this extraordinary mission...
is how the damaged spacecraft will stand up to the trauma...
of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
How do we tell whether the heat shield's been damaged?
Drop it through the atmosphere and see if they survive.
Were Odyssey's heat shields damaged by the explosion?
Will the pyrotechnics that deploy the parachutes...
needed to slow the capsule...
from a fatal 300 miles an hour...
to a gentle 20 for splashdown function properly?
We're getting word from Brett Hutchins that the astronauts...
are about to jettison the service module.
- Yes, Howard. That procedure-- - Let's go directly to Brett.
- We'll get it from the source. - Thank you, Howard.
In just a few minutes, the astronauts aboard the crippled Apollo 13...
will jettison their service module...
which was mysteriously damaged only two days into the mission...
forcing them to abandon all hopes of a lunar landing.
With any luck, the crew will get a view of the damaged service module...
to determine what may have caused the cataclysmic malfunction.
- Are we icing Brett Hutchins? - You bet.
Don't.
We have rules. We can't reward someone for breaking them.
We can't afford to alienate a network.
This is Apollo Control Houston...
at 140 hours, 15 minutes into the mission.
Apollo 13 presently 34,350 nautical miles out from the Earth...
traveling at a speed of 12,846 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, in the Mission Control viewing room, the crowd is increasing.
Already here are Senator Phil Hart of Michigan...
Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Science and Technology...
California Representative George Miller, Chairman of the House Space Committee--
For the post-mission press conference...
the senator will make the opening statement.
The congressman's been more closely identified with the program.
- You have absolutely no shame, Fred. - Gentlemen.
Sorry, boys. Administrator Paine should make the opening--
If they don't make it through re-entry, who wants to go first?
Okay, Houston. Do we have a go for pyro arm?
Stand by for a go on pyro arm and LEM jettison.
The astronauts are about to jettison the lifeboat that has served them so well.
Are there any dangers in this maneuver?
This is a moment of high suspense for the astronauts...
their families and everyone on the ground at Mission Control.
Just answer the goddamn question!
...reverse thrusters to back them away from the LEM.
They've wanted to hold onto their LEM lifeboat for as long as possible.
The SCC's logic is on.
Just copied that.
You are go for pyro arm, go for LEM jettison.
Real fine. Ten seconds.
Five.
- LEM jettisoned. - Okay, that was the LEM.
- At 141:30 ground elapsed time. - Copy that. Farewell, Aquarius--
10:43 a.m. Yeah.
Quote this: "Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you." Yeah.
This is Apollo Control...
at 142 hours, 30 minutes.
Apollo 13 is presently 6,000 miles from Earth...
traveling at a speed of 25,000 miles per hour.
Re-entry expected to begin in ten minutes.
In four minutes, the leading edge of the command module...
will bite into the atmosphere.
And, as the accelerating ship encounters the thickening air...
friction will begin to build...
generating temperatures of 4,000 degrees across the face of the heat shield.
If this energy generated by the infernal descent...
were converted to electricity...
it would equal 86,000 kilowatt hours...
enough to light up Los Angeles for one and a half minutes.
If it were converted to kinetic energy...
it could lift every man, woman and child ten inches off the ground.
For the craft, however, it will have but one effect.
As temperatures rise, a dense cloud of ionized gas will surround the ship...
reducing communication to a hash of static for about three minutes.
If radio contact is restored at the end of this time, controllers will know...
that the heat shield is intact...
and the spacecraft did survive.
If not, they will know that the crew was consumed in flames.
Odyssey, Houston. We just had one last time around the room...
and everybody says you're looking great.
I know all of us want to thank all you guys down there...
for the very fine job you did.
That's the nicest thing anybody's ever said.
All right, LOS in about a minute or a minute and a half.
In entry attitude, we'd like omni charlie. And welcome home.
Thank you.
Apollo 13 is re-entering the atmosphere.
We are awaiting reacquisition of signal in approximately three minutes.
Odyssey, Houston. Standing by. Over.
- Okay, Joe. - Okay, we read you, Jack.
We're looking at the weather on TV. It looks just as advertised: real good.
A remarkable end to a four-day ordeal...
as the astronauts streak homeward--
We still have to wait for the drogue chutes and the main parachutes.
They could have been damaged...
by exposure to low temperatures when the heating elements...
were powered down.
I guess it's not over till it's over.
The Soviets learned that almost three years ago...
when the parachute of their Soyuz 1 capsule failed to open...
and Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed on impact.
Jesus. Anything make him happy?
He's just filling air.
We've got a couple of good drogues.
There go the mains.
Emmett, it looks good from here. What do you think?
I think it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Houston, this is Odyssey.
We're in stable one, the ship is secure...
and our buoyancy's holding.
What did we learn?
Perhaps the limits of technology...
at least when it comes to protecting us from our own hubris.
But those are issues for another day.
What matters now is that three great men...
are safely aboard the USS Iwo Jima...
and steaming for home.
In Houston, this is Emmett Seaborn.
- Thank you, Emmett. - We're clear.
I'm getting too old for this.
- Good job. - Thanks.
That was a hell of a job. Could we talk--
I've been promised the first post-mission interview with Gene Kranz.
If I was at Mission Control instead of here...
I'd be doing it right now, instead of a half hour from now.
You get it?
I get it, all right.
- Where the hell were you? - At our downtown spa.
- Mr. Seaborn. - Where is he?
- Who? - Gene to me, Mr. Kranz to you.
- We're setting up in a VIP room-- - Let's go.
Sorry.
You getting too big for me now?
- Congratulations, Gene. Hell of a job. - Thank you, sir.
- What are you doing here? - Huh?
Yeah, they told me you were staying downtown.
Who told you that?
Heck, you're here. Why not let the A team take over?
Excuse me, gentlemen. Yes?
Look, Emmett...
if it's a problem, you can do the interview.
I don't mind.
No, it's okay.
I--
I got work to do.