Apollo 13 Minute Podcast

Gene Kranz is happy the engineers have given the astronauts enough power to survive till re-entry. “Well done,” says Kranz. “Now we gotta get them in. Tell me about the power procedures.” In the Command Module simulator, Ken Mattingly works with John Aaron, who is sitting in the simulator control room, to figure out the procedures. “Here’s the order of what I want to do,” says Mattingly. “I want to power up guidance, ECS, communications, warm up the pyros for the parachute and the command module thrusters.” “The thrusters are gonna put you over budget on amps, Ken,” says John Aaron. “Well,” says Mattingly, “they’ve been sitting at 200 hundred below for four days, John, they gotta be heated.” “Fine,” says Aaron, “then trade off the parachutes. Something.” “Well,” replies Mattingly, “if the chutes don’t open, what’s the point?” “Ken,” says Aaron, “you’re telling me what you need, I’m telling you what we have to work with at this point. I’m not making this stuff up.” “They’re gonna need all these systems, John,” says Mattingly. “We do not have the power, Ken!” replies John Aaron. “We just don’t have it.” “Okay,” says Mattingly, “I’m gonna go back and reorganize the sequencing again and find more power. Let’s start from scratch. Clear the board.” “I don’t know,” says John Aaron to his assistant. IN THIS MINUTE: Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Gary Sinese as Ken Mattingly Loren Dean as John Aaron

Jim Lovell is piloting the LM’s mid-course correction. “That’s me around,” says Lovell. “A little more,” says Haise. “Come on, baby.” “Come on. That’s it,” says Lovell. “Hold it. Damn it!” Swigert is counting the final ten seconds of the burn. “5, 6, 7…” “Back, back!” says Lovell. “That’s it. Hold it. Steady.” “8…” says Swigert. “Steady,” says Lovell. “9,” continues Swigert. “Shut down!…,” says Lovell. “Houston, we have shutdown.” “That’s close enough, Jim,” says CAPCOM. “Good work.” “I knew it!” shouts the Grumman Rep, smiling. “I knew it! How ’bout that LM, huh? How ’bout it?” “I guess you can keep your job,” replies Gene Kranz. “You betcha!” says the Grumman rep. “Thirteen, stand by,” radios CAPCOM. “We’re evaluating our power usage on that burn.” On board Aquarius, Lovell turns to Haise and Swigert. “Well,” says Lovell,”let’s hope we don’t have to do that again.” Back in the engineering conference room in Houston, Gene Kranz draws a longer line on the blackboard. “Gentlemen,” he says, “You’ve given our guys enough to-” IN THIS MINUTE: Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Ned Vaughan as CAPCOM Kenneth White as Grumman Rep Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Marc McClure as Glynn Lunney

Swigert continues the countdown. “7, 6, 5, 4…” Lovell sticks his slippers onto the Velcro-lined floor pad. Haise knocks the -X RCS motors “Ullage is go,” says Haise. “…3, 2, 1,” finishes Swigert. “Ignition,” says Lovell, and the LM descent engine fires up. “She’s burning!” says Haise. “Oh yeah,” agrees Lovell. “Master arm off,” reports Swigert. “Okay, here we go!” says Haise. “Helium regulator on,” says Lovell. RCS thrusters are firing madly as the two spacecraft spin. “RCS is go, 10 percent thrust,” says Swigert, reading the gauges. “Bring her around, Freddo,” says Lovell. The Earth slides by the left LM window. “I’m trying, but it’s draggin’,” replies Haise. “10 seconds,” says Swigert. In Mission Control, Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney listen in on the conversation via radio. “All right. Drop it down, Freddo,” says Lovell. In Mission Control, the Grumman Rep nervously smokes a cigarette. “We’re drifting! No, hold what you’ve got!” continues Lovell. “I’ll roll it. Back off!” “I can’t get it stable,” says Haise. “She’s dancing all over the place!” “Come to the right a little bit,” says Lovell. The Earth slides by Lovell’s window again. “15 seconds,” says Swigert. “She’s drifting, I’m losing attitude,” says Haise. Marilyn Lovell listens at home via her NASA squawk box. “Okay, says Lovell. “Hold it up there. Back! No, Freddo! Back!” “Sh-t, I’m losing it!” yells Haise. “20 seconds,” says Swigert. “Bring the earth up,” says Haise. “Forward, Fred, come on,” says Swigert. “Forward.” Haise pushes forward on the joystick. “Sh-t, Sh-t. I lost it!” yells Haise. “Where is it? Where is it!” “Seven o’clock!” replies Lovell. “Helium regulator’s closed.” The LM continues to thrust. “Bring it down, Freddo,” says Lovell. “Just nose it down!” “Uh, Okay,” says Haise. “I… I got it!” “Thirty seconds,” says Swigert. “Okay, she’s coming in,” says Haise. The spacecraft is now thrusting towards the Earth. “Little farther, ease your touch,” says Lovell. “Damn it! Damn it, that’s mine. That’s me.” Lovell’s fingers are wrapped around the joystick. IN THIS MINUTE: Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Ned Vaughan as CAPCOM Kenneth White as Grumman Rep Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Marc McClure as Glynn Lunney

In the Lunar Module, the astronauts prepare for the course correction. “Okay, this gonna take all three of us,” says Lovell. “Freddo, you handle the pitch. But on the translation controllers all backwards so if the… the Earth starts drifting down you need to thrust ‘aft’ not ‘forward’. I’ll do the same on mine with everything else. We’re gonna burn at 10 percent thrust for thirty-nine seconds, Jack, you time us.” “Got it,” says Swigert. “Give us a count of the last ten seconds up to thirty-nine,” says Lovell to Swigert. “Let’s not miss this.” Lovell turns to Haise. “You up to this, Freddo?” asks Lovell. “I’m with you,” replies Haise. Lovell keys his radio microphone. “Standing by for corridor control burn,” says Lovell. “Okay, Jim,” says CAPCOM. “You can fire when ready. You are go for the manual burn.” “Okay,” says Lovell. “X plus button at 10 seconds. Mark.” “Come on, baby. One more burn!” says Haise. Swigert begins the countdown. “9, 8,…” IN THIS MINUTE: Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Ned Vaughan as CAPCOM  

A news anchor is explaining the mid-course correction on the air. “In order to enter the atmosphere safely,” says the news anchor, “the crew must aim for a corridor just two and a half degrees wide. If they’re too steep, they will incinerate in the steadily thickening air, if they’re too shallow, they’ll ricochet off the atmosphere like a rock skipping off a pond.” The news anchor holds up a basketball and a piece of paper. “The re-entry corridor is in fact so narrow,” says the news anchor, “that if this basketball were the earth, and this softball were the moon, and the two were placed fourteen feet apart, the crew would have to hit a target no thicker than this piece of paper.” Back in Mission Control, Flight Director Glynn Lunney makes an announcement. “Okay, people,” says Lunney. “On your toes. We’re doing this one blind.” The Grumman rep talks to Gene Kranz. “Gene, I want you to understand we’ve never tried this before, burn, cold soak, burn, cold soak, burn, manual control,” says the Grumman rep. “Look,” replies Gene, “it will ignite, will it not?” “I just want you to know the engines never been tried like this,” says the Grumman rep. “That’s all I’m trying to tell you.” “Look,” says Gene, “I know what you’re trying to do, I guarantee you I won’t hold you personally responsible. If it lights, it lights. Let Lovell do the rest.” “Okay,” says the Grumman rep. Back on TV, the news anchor is explaining the situation. Marilyn is seated in her home with several astronaut wives, watching the television. “They’re gonna burn the engines and steer it manually, attempting to keep the earth in the window,” says the news anchor. IN THIS MINUTE: Jeffrey Kluger as Science Reporter Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Marc McClure as Glynn Lunney Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell Kenneth White as Grumman Rep  

“Now, come on,” says Gene. “We gotta be able to give these guys something up there.” “Without power, we can’t give them a read,” replies GUIDO. “I’m not talking about power,” says Kranz, “I’m talking about reference.” “No, no. There’s no references, ” says GNC. “We have a bunch of debris up there.” “Houston, what’s the story with this burn?” asks  Lovell. “We’re trying to hash something out down here, Aquarius. Stand by.” replies CAPCOM “Well,” says Lovell, “Now look, Houston. All we need to hold attitude is one fixed point in space. Is that not correct?” “Yeah, roger that, Jim,” says CAPCOM “Well, Houston,” says Lovell, “We’ve got one! If we can keep the Earth in the window, fly manually, the co-ax crosshairs right on its terminator. All I have to know is how long do we need to burn the engine.” Lovell looks at Haise and Swigert. “The shorter, the better.” “Roger that, Jim,” says CAPCOM “Can they fly it manually?” asks Glynn Lunney, “and still shut it down on time without the computer?” “I guess, that’s the best we can do, Glynn,” says Gene. “We’re out of time.” IN THIS MINUTE: Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Marc McClure as Glynn Lunney Ned Vaughn as CAPCOM – Gold Gabriel Jarret as GNC Max Grodénchik as FIDO

FIDO explains, “We need another burn to get them back in the entry corridor.” “Definitely another burn,” agrees GNC. “Another burn,” says Kranz. “Fire the engines and get them on course,” says FIDO. “Copy that,” says Gene Kranz. Onboard Aquarius, Jim Lovell examines a frozen hot dog. Swigert coughs. Lovell taps the hot dog against the LM’s alignment telescope mount. The hot dog is frozen solid. Haise coughs. “Aquarius, this is Houston,” radios CAPCOM. “Houston, Aquarius,” replies Lovell. “Jim, we’ve got another course correction for you,” says CAPCOM. Swigert looks at Lovell’s surprised face. “What’s up?” he asks Lovell. “Something about another course correction,” says Haise. “We copy, Houston,” says Lovell. “Be advised it’s gonna take Freddo and I awhile to power up the computer for the alignment platform if we have to fire the engine.” “Negative on that, Jim,” says CAPCOM. “We can’t spare power for the computer.” Freddo looks at Lovell in disbelief. “We gotta do this blind?” he says. “Houston,” replies Lovell, “Without the computer, what do we use for orientation?” IN THIS MINUTE: Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Ned Vaughn as CAPCOM – Gold Gabriel Jarret as GNC Max Grodénchik as FIDO

GUEST: SPACE HIPSTER EMILY CARNEY “Okay, Jim. Copy that,” replies the CAPCOM, after Lovell informs Mission Control that he’s no longer wearing his sensors. Swigert and Haise follow suit, disconnecting their sensors.  In Mission Control, the Flight Surgeon’s screen shows three flat lines. “Flight,” says the Flight Surgeon, “Now I’m losing all three of them!” Gene Kranz smiles. “It’s just a little medical mutiny, Doc,” says Kranz. “I’m sure the guys are still with us. Let’s cut ’em some slack, okay?” TITLE:DAY 6 Apollo 13 falls between the Moon and the Earth, the sunshine streaming behind Earth in the blackness of space. In Mission Control, the GNC’s console shows a plot graph of “GEODETIC ALTITUDE VS. RANGE TO GO.” The dotted line falls to the right of the graph. ” Gene,” says GNC to Kranz,”It’s not the velocity, it’s the angle. I mean maybe, they’re still venting something and that’s throwing off the trajectory, but we are definitely shallow again. We’re up to a 5.9.” :Damn it,” says Kranz, looking at the graph. “At this rate,” says FIDO, “they nick the Earth’s atmosphere and bounce off into space. We’ll never get them back.” FIDO looks at Kranz.  “We need another burn to get -” says RETRO. IN THIS MINUTE: Christian Clemenson as Flight Surgeon Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Mark McClure as Glynn Lunney Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Ned Vaughn as CAPCOM – Gold Gabriel Jarret as GNC Max Grodénchik as FIDO

CAPCOM tells Swigert that President Nixon has granted an income tax extension for him, since Jack is most decidedly “out of the country.” “Roger that, Houston. That’s wonderful news,” replies Swigert. In Mission Control, the Flight Surgeon has advice for Gene Kranz. “Tell them they have to sleep,” says the Flight Surgeon. “Haise is running a fever of a 104.” “Thirteen,” says CAPCOM. “Listen, we’ve had another request from Flight Surgeon that you fellas get some more sleep. He doesn’t like his readings down here.” In Aquarius, Lovell gets angry. “Let’s see how he feels about this,” says Lovell, undoing his sensor pack. “I’m sick and tired of the entire Western world knowing how my kidneys are functioning!” On the Flight Surgeon’s monitor, Lovell’s medical feed flatlines. “Flight,” says the surgeon, “I just lost Lovell!” “Uh, Thirteen,” says CAPCOM, “This is Houston. Jim, we just had a drop out on your biomed sensors?” “I’m not wearing my biomed sensors, Houston,” says Lovell, calmly. IN THIS MINUTE: Christian Clemenson as Flight Surgeon Ed Harris as Gene Kranz Mark McClure as Glynn Lunney Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Ned Vaughn as CAPCOM – Gold

Blanch Lovell is talking to her granddaughter, Susan. “Well, don’t you worry, honey,” says Blanche. “If they could get a washing machine to fly, my Jimmy could land it.” Onboard Aquarius, the cassette player is losing power. “BLUE MOON,” performed by The Mavericks plays slowly as the player bounces around the Lunar Module. Moisture covers every surface. The duct tape holding the urine containment bag loosens, and the bag floats through the Lunar Module. The battery on the cassette player finally gives out. Swigert blows on his cold hands as he watches the urine bag float by. “Uh, Jack” radios CAPCOM, “You’ll be happy to hear that we contacted President Nixon, and he’s gonna grant you an extension on your income taxes since you are most decidedly – ” IN THIS MINUTE: Jean Speegle Howard as Blanch Lovell Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell Bill Paxton as Fred Haise Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert Brent Cullen as CAPCOM