Mission Control, Houston, April 13, 1970

Mission Control, Houston, April 13, 1970 Apollo 13, NASA's third crewed mission to the moon, launched on April 11, 1970. Two days  later, on April 13, while the mission was en route to the moon, a fault in the electrical syste  of one of the Service Module's oxygen tanks produced an explosion that caused both oxygen  tanks to fail and also led to a loss of electrical power. The Command Module remained  functional on its own batteries and oxygen tank, but these were usable only during the last  hours of the mission. The crew shut down the Command Module and used the Lunar Module  as a "lifeboat" during the return trip to Earth. Despite great hardship caused by limited power,  loss of cabin heat, and a shortage of potable water, the crew returned to Earth, and the  mission was termed a "successful failure." This photograph of the Mission Operations Control  Room in the Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space  Center), Houston, was taken on April 13, 1970, during the fourth television transmission from  the Apollo 13 mission. Eugene F. Kranz (foreground, back to camera), one of four Apollo 13  flight directors, views the large screen at front as astronaut Fred W. Haise Jr., Lunar Module  pilot, is seen on the screen.  The Flight of Apollo 13 Image Credit: NASA