What They Were Thinking
Inside mission control during the dramatic rescue of Apollo 13.
On April 17, 1970, the command module for the Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down into the Pacific Ocean near the Samoan Islands with three astronauts inside. More than 5,000 miles away in Houston, the mission’s ground crew was watching and waiting.
It was the end of a dramatic race against time to save the astronauts, following an accident four days earlier.
While the spacecraft was en route to the moon, an oxygen tank had exploded, compromising power and water systems. Instead of making a lunar landing, the astronauts onboard and the flight directors on the ground had been fighting to bring Apollo 13 safely back to Earth.
As Apollo spun through space, the world watched nervously and NASA mission control members worked around the clock to get the crew home alive.
Fifty-six years later, we asked two of Apollo 13’s flight directors, who are now in their 90s, what they were thinking when the astronauts finally made it back.
Gerry Griffin (Apollo 13 flight director): The picture is from when the crew stepped out on the deck of the aircraft carrier that picked them up. We did not celebrate anything until they were on that deck — when they were on something solid.
Gene Kranz (Apollo 13 lead flight director): I was probably the most emotional. While everybody was celebrating, I was crying. I was so damn proud of the team and the work we did.
I had been working at the moment the explosion occurred. At first I thought we’d problem solve and continue on with the mission. But then it was survival mode. The first problem was, OK, we’re going to come home, but how are we going to come home?
Griffin: One line that was said in the “Apollo 13”movie that never was actually said was, “Failure is not an option.” What we did talk about was the fact that we had options.
The command module was the only thing we had with a heat shield that could get them back into the atmosphere. We had to turn it off, which had never been done in space. And then figure out how to repower it for entry.
Kranz: I won’t say it was easy, but the fact was, that’s what we were trained to do. You had to come up with plans that you knew would work. The pressure is part of our life.
Griffin: During entry, there’s what we call a blackout, which is when it gets so hot that you can’t communicate. And when we finally got radio contact back, they weren’t answering. Which scared the devils out of us. So when we heard their voice,it was a bit of a phew. Then they splashed down in the water, got lifted out of there with a helicopter, and onto the carrier.
This was before the days of high fives. I think Gene and I shook hands and I said, Oh boy, that was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?
Kranz: We were doing things that had never been done before. We wrote the books on how to get to the moon.
Griffin: When I look back at it, the best job I’ve ever had in my life was being a flight director during the Apollo program. It’s kind of funny — we all had crew cuts early on. And by the time we got to Apollo 17, we had bell-bottom trousers and long hair.
Kranz: With the Artemis mission, I could basically feel everything that we had done before being done all over again, only with more complex, capable systems. It’s really the dawn of a new generation in space.
Griffin: I was in Houston when Artemis lifted off, standing right behind the flight director. People have asked me, Did it bring back memories? And I guess it did, but my major focus was on Artemis. Boy, it was a beautiful liftoff.
Interviews have been edited and condensed. Anika Burgess contributed reporting. Photo credit: NASA.
