Apollo 13 Page #6

Okay, Houston, I have completed

the steps on page 15.

Now I'm ready

to power down the computer.

I'm gonna need

your gimbal angles, Jack...

- before you shut down the computer!

- Okay, Jim.

I need this back to me

before they power down.

All right, all right.

I got it. Hold on.

- Houston, our computer is up.

- Roger. Stand by.

Jack, we need to proceed with

steps 12 through 17 quickly.

You're down to about

eight minutes remaining.

Fuel cell pump's off.

O2 fans, tank two off.

Okay, Houston, check me. I have

completed these gimbal conversions...

but I need a double check

of the arithmetic.

- Yeah, you can go, Jim.

- The roll CAL angle is minus two.

Lunar module roll is 355.57.

Pitch:
1678... Correction.

Pitch:
167.78.

- Yaw is 351.87.

- Stand by. We're checking it.

We've got negative visibility

in our star field,

and if this paperwork isn't right,

who knows where we'll end up out here?

Looks good, Flight.

- It's all right.

- Good here.

- He's good, Andy.

- We'll go on those numbers.

- You're good.

- Log them in, Freddo.

Jack, turn off the I.M.U.

Switch to S.C.S.

Stand by to turn off

the thrusters. Over.

It's a great day in New York.

It's girl watchers' weather.

I like those ingenious girl watchers

who put on Con Edison helmets...

and dig trenches in the street

to get a better view.

But I... Hey, speaking

of girl watching,

did you know that our first bachelor

astronaut is on his way to the moon?

Is it Swigert?

Yeah, first bachelor.

He's the kind, they say, has a girl

in every port. He has that reputation.

He's sort of foolishly optimistic,

taking nylons, Hershey bars to the moon.

Did you read

that three million...

What do you say?

Less viewers or fewer viewers?

Three million fewer viewers, uh, watched

the space shot than did the last one.

Uh, I...

Colonel Borman is h...

An ABC New...

Here is ABC science editor

Jules Bergman.

The Apollo 13 spacecraft

has lost all electrical power,

and astronauts Jim Lovell,

Fred Haise and Jack Swigert...

are making their way through

the tunnel to the lunar module,

using it as a lifeboat,

so they'll have electrical power

for their radios on the command module.

Apollo 13 is apparently

also losing breathing oxygen...

Slow down. An electrical failure.

What exactly does that mean?

The emergency has ruled out

any chance of a lunar landing...

and could endanger the lives

of the astronauts themselves...

if the LEM oxygen supply, plus whatever

is left of the command module's oxygen,

can't last them until

they can get back to Earth.

What do you mean there's

no immediate danger?

I just heard they're losing oxygen.

Can they get back?

The LEM's descent rocket engine

will be used in aborting the mission...

and getting the astronauts

safely back to Earth.

Recapping what has happened: The Apollo

No, don't give me

that NASA bullshit!

I want to know what's

happening with my husband!

We want to switch control

to the Aquarius now.

- Roger that.

- Houston, wait!

You're down to

about five minutes now, Jack.

Be aware our R.C.S. Isn't up here yet.

We have no attitude control on Aquarius.

They don't have control?

Did we miss a step here?

- Control, what the hell happened?

- What? I don't know.

We're out of whack. I'm trying to pitch

down, but we're yawing to the left.

Why can't I null this out?

She wasn't designed to fly

attached like this.

It's like flying with

a dead elephant on our back.

Flight, Guidance. We're getting

awfully close to center here.

Watch that middle gimbal. We don't

want you tumbling off into space.

Freddo, inform Houston I'm well aware

of the goddamn gimbals!

Roger that, Houston.

I don't need to hear the obvious.

- I've got the frappin' eight-ball

in front of me!

- Andy, we're on VOX.

Aquarius, this is Houston.

We've got you both on VOX.

You want what?

You want us to go to VOX?

You have a hot mike.

We are reading everything you say.

Sorry, Jim.

It's only

by a very narrow margin...

that we're going to get Lovell,

Haise and Swigert back alive.

Marilyn?

I'm sorry.

Jeffrey's calling for you.

...the terseness of Kraft and

the grim lines of Jim McDivitt.

This has been a very close call.

We're not out of the woods yet.

Jeffrey?

Why are so many people here?

Oh, well, you know...

your dad's flying his mission.

He said he was going

to get me a moon rock.

Right.

Well...

something broke

on your daddy's spaceship,

and he's gonna have to turn around

before he even gets to the moon.

Was it the door?

Thirteen, Houston. We still show

that venting pushing you around.

- How you doing?

- Houston, Aquarius.

We've had to learn how to fly all over

again, but we are doing better now.

- Uh, roger that, Aquarius.

- Have him close it out.

Jack, we can close out

your procedure now.

Do we know for sure that we can

power this thing back up?

It's gonna get

awfully cold in here.

Copy that, Jack.

We'll just have to deal with that later.

- Computer off.

- We're clear.

We're going to the LEM.

We confirm shutdown, Jack.

Lunar module now in control.

Roger that, Houston.

This is Odyssey signing off.

Freddo, we're gonna have

to execute some sort of burn.

It's just a matter of when.

- Did they shut us all down in there?

- Yeah.

Didn't think we'd

be back in here so soon.

Houston, how far off course

do you project we are?

Over.

Okay, people, listen up!

Gentlemen, I want you all

to forget the flight plan.

From this moment on, we are

improvising a new mission.

Sorry about that.

- We'll get somebody to look at that.

- Find a bulb around here.

How do we get our people home?

They are here.

- Do we turn 'em around,

straight back, direct abort?

- Yes!

- Gene...

- I can't guarantee the burn yet.

No, sir, no, sir, no, sir!

We get them on

a free-return trajectory.

It's the option with the fewest

question marks for safety.

I agree with Jerry. We use the moon's

gravity to slingshot them around.

- The LEM will not support three

guys for that amount of time.

- It barely holds two.

We've got to do a direct abort. We do an

about-face, bring the guys right home.

Get 'em back soon.

Absolutely.

We don't even know if

the Odyssey's engine's working.

If there's been serious damage

to this spacecraft...

They blow up and they die!

- That is not the argument!

We are talking about time!

- Jesus! Come on!

I'm not gonna sugarcoat this for you!

Okay, hold it.

Let's hold it down.

Let's hold it down. The only engine

with enough power for a direct abort...

is the S.P.S.

On the service module.

From what Lovell has told us, it could

have been damaged in an explosion,

so let's consider

that engine dead.

We light that thing up,

could blow the whole works.

It's just too risky.

We're not gonna take that chance.

About the only thing the command

module is good for is reentry.

That leaves us with the LEM,

which means free-return trajectory.

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