April 13, 1970: Apollo 13's Oxygen Tank Explodes

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the beginning of the Apollo 13 Catastrophe. Two days after lift-off, Mission Commander Jim Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise also reported "We had a pretty large bang associated with the caution and warning there.  And there’s one whole side of that spacecraft missing!"

Despite Apollo 13's Lead Flight Director Gene Kranz's promise of "We will never surrender. We will never give up a crew," Apollo 13's mission came to a tragic end 5 days later on April 18th, when after a dramatic last minute effort to save the astronauts failed and the Lunar Command Module lost power and headed into deep space for what was thought to be eternity.  Tragically, NASA simulations at the time miscalculated the trajectory and one month later on May 20th the LCM plunged into Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated.