On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13, the third lunar landing mission, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying
astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise.
The spacecraft’s destination was the Fra Mauro highlands of the
moon, where the astronauts were to explore the Imbrium Basin
and conduct geological experiments.
After an oxygen tank exploded just over 200,000 miles from Earth
on the evening of April 13, however, the new mission objective
became to get the Apollo 13 crew home alive. The landing mission
was aborted.
The crew: Jim Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred Haise.
The Apollo 13 service module showing explosion damage. (NASA)