Minute 129: Standing By

Jim Lovell is surrounded by the applauding Iwo Jima crew. TITLE: THE END MUSIC: “Apollo 13 End Credit,  Featuring Annie Lennox” TITLES: CAST Jim Lovell – TOM HANKS Fred Haise – BILL PAXTON Jack Swigert – KEVIN BACON Ken Mattingly – GARY SINISE Gene Kranz – ED HARRIS Marilyn Lovell – KATHLEEN QUINLAN Barbara Lovell […]

GUEST: NASA ENGINEER STUART MCCLUNG Jim Lovell, narrating from the present day, talks about how Jack Swigert ran for Congress from the state of Colorado, “but he died of cancer before he was able to take office.” On board the Iwo Jima, the Apollo 13 crew walks among the applauding Navy crew. The Mission Control […]

Jim Lovell looks up from the life raft outside the returned Odyssey spacecraft. Later, on the deck of the Iwo Jima, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert exit the helicopter, wearing blue flight suits and sporting Iwo Jima caps. Marilyn and the Lovell family are elated seeing the crew on television. The crew of the Iwo Jima […]

A Navy frogman knocks on the hatch of Odyssey. Jim Lovell gives the frogman a thumbs-up sign, then unstraps Fred Haise from his couch. Haise shakes his hand. Swigert and Lovell then shake hands. “Houston. We’re at Stable One,” radios Lovell. “The ship is secure. This is Apollo 13, signing off.” In Mission Control, Gene […]

GUEST: NASA CHIEF HISTORIAN BILL BARRY Gene Kranz wipes his eyes and stands up in Mission Control. Over the Pacific, three parachutes lowering the Command Module are lit by the rising sun. Flight crews on the USS Iwo Jima applaud and wave as Odyssey floats toward the surface. Odyssey splashes down in brilliant sunshine. Navy […]

GUESTS: ROBIN PERTZ & JOHN OLDHAM, NASA GLENN RESEARCH CENTER Jay Lovell looks at the classroom clock. It’s 11:56 AM. “Odyssey, Houston,” says Mattingly, “Do you read?” Suddenly on the monitor, three large parachutes appear, with the Command Module swaying in the sky. “Hello, Houston,” says Lovell. “This is Odyssey. It’s good to see you […]

GUEST: ACTOR BRETT CULLEN Blanche Lovell watches the television coverage of her son, with Neil Armstrong. Mary Haise sits on a couch and watches the coverage with her son. “We’re about to learn whether or not that heatshield which was damaged, if you remember, by the explosion three days ago has withstood the inferno of […]

GUEST: DR. JOHN DULEMBA, MD, FACOG The Lovell family in Houston, and son Jay Lovell in Wisconsin, continue to follow the coverage of reentry on television. “This is the critical moment,” says Walter Cronkite on television. “Will the heat shield hold? Will the Command module survive the intense heat of re-entry? If it doesn’t, there […]

GUEST: FR. DAVID MOWRY The radio blackout continues through Odyssey’s reentry.  The crew experiences rising G-forces, as Apollo 13 leaves a blazing trail across the pre-dawn sky. On patrol, two Navy helicopters fly low over the Pacific. In the Lovell household, Marilyn Lovell is seated behind her son, Jeffrey. Daughter Susan sits next to Marilyn, […]

GUEST: NASA’S “IRON FLIGHT” DIRECTOR PAUL DYE Swigert, Haise, and Lovell ponder many thoughts as Odyssey falls into the re-entry corridor over the South Pacific. The heat shield begins to ionize, then blaze as the CM decelerates. Ionized gasses illuminate outside  the left window of the Command Module. Water rains from the control panel. “Flight, […]