As it Happened - Apollo 13 "Houston We've Had A Problem"

This video is a real time simulation of the Apollo 13 accident. This video contains two channel audio, with the Flight Directors Loop on one channel and the Air-to-Ground loop on the other. The sequence starts a few minutes before the accident.
The accident sequence is simulated on Orbiter Flight Simulator using NASSP. I do not know if the real time sequence looked like (I doubt it did) but it is added to give the viewer something to watch.
The AGC clock is used to show approximate times of the events. The clock is timed to Jack Swigerts first report of a problem. I cannot be sure that the timings are correct for prior or subsequent events.
Video used is from the MOCR footage shot the day of the accident, the DAC footage the crew took after the accident and TV channel coverage on or within 24 hrs of the accident.
All footage of the MOCR and from the DAC is courtesy NASA. All audio is courtesy NASA. TV coverage - I do not own the rights to but they are included as they were an integral part of how the mission played out.
Thanks for watching

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

19:25 “Let’s solve the problem, but let’s not make it any worse by guessin’.” - Gene Kranz

[@adzisme]

Christopher U.S. Smith Gene Kranz is a wise man; that advice can be used on any problem one may need to solve

[@garyfearon3018]

I guess that means he wants his team to rely on the data they have before them.

[@-SANDMAN-]

well it speaks of experience, immense experience, situations that have been exacerbated by ‘wishing to do well’ or ‘good intentions’ but little insight, patience or wisdom

[@HooyahPeacock]

My Gf told me this when I found bumps on my...nvm

[@EdWeibe]

and "what have we got on the spacecraft thats good?'

[@TheNaomeister]

5:32 The 1970s equivalent of "Did you try turning off and then turning it on again?"

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

TheNaomeister Resets can work wonders, provided the equipment being monitored didn't fail.

[@johncrowerdoe5527]

@@ChristopherUSSmith Which is why the NGC was built to restart itself on any problem. Very quick reboot too, so quick Apollo 11 could land while the computer rebooted multiple times.

[@AureliusR]

@@johncrowerdoe5527 Well, calling it "rebooting" is a bit of a misnomer. But yes, it could very quickly resume tasks after a watchdog timer reset.

[@LuciusZedaker]

Still amazing the calm handling of the situation by everybody involved. Thanks LM5!

[@lunarmodule5]

Lucius Zedaker U R Welcome Lucius - thanks for the comment

[@gk10002000]

yeah. this is what some proper military training, real pilots that had been in combat or stress situations, not just desk jockeys. One has to experience adrenalin, momentary fright, then recover and just keep on thinking and processing things. Oh and being prepared, practice, rehearsal, know and understand the system you are using. Don't Panic. Bouncing around the walls and yelling won't accomplish anything. You will just be right back where you started but with more time elapsed

[@swami1]

The calmness of everyone's voice is amazing.

[@TheJMascis666]

Comms are so much clearer than on the Gemini missions

[@lunarmodule5]

TheJMascis666 My guess is that because Apollo used ground stations with large dishes (Goldstone etc) that comm is so much clearer than the ground stations and the antenna they used (like Indian Ocean etc) when they were in low earth orbit. I do know that they used several of the ground stations on Apollo whilst out toward the moon that they used in earth orbit - Madrid etc, but you are right, by this time, the comm was getting to be excellent.

[@FDzerzhinsky]

Beautiful job. Thanks for sticking to real life. I was 10 years old when this happened. It was an amazing week. (A little less but it sure felt like a full week.) Great job!

[@lunarmodule5]

FDzerzhinsky You are more than welcome FD - glad you liked the presentation -regards LM5

[@PuffKitty]

most of this went over my head but it sure was an interesting presentation! 🙂

[@markpierce5811]

Wouldn't that second channel be the PAO loop since we hear the PAO talking? PAO usually covered the air-to-ground with the capability to override it when the PAO had additional info for the public. Just nitpicking...

[@lunarmodule5]

yep its the pao/air to ground loop. its the digital tape of the same - sorry if that wasnt clear in the description. regards lm5

[@speedracer6294]

Reality vs Hollywood Balls of steel

[@Scrooge042]

Happy Apollo 13 day!

[@steveburrus9347]

It 's too bad that the troub;es with Apollo 13 was the main thing t hat's remembered about it today but it stills holds the record for the longest distance from the Earth that any space craft has ever flown!

[@jonathanbrannick2078]

With people inside maybe.

[@lucianomorano3394]

actually when Apollo 11 landed on the moon Michael Collins stayed in the command module orbiting the moon. and many unmanned space crafts have made it much farther than Apollo 13.

[@MyBrookes1]

how on earth did swaggert, lovell and hayes stay so calm, they were loosing power and oxygen in deep space, shows how professional they are

[@aidanhodgetalks6055]

+MyBrookes1 Well, one thing that helped was that the crew didn't actually know they were leaking oxygen until control had already identified and found a solution to the problem an hour later. The assumption was that they were just leaking fuel which was okay because they had the lunar module to get them home. Below I put together the events and exchanges that went on at houston (you can hear them better if you lower the crew's audio channel which i think is right speaker). You can definitely hear the tensions in the room. As it progresses flight control starts getting progressively annoyed at everyone around him and starts making sarcastic quips. Aside from this though, even if he dismisses someone he still takes their suggestions under advisement. This proved to be good because otherwise Ecom wouldn't have discovered the oxygen leak at all or how to fix it as he had to beg the flight controlman to repower the oxygen sensor. the Ecom guy is the real hero here, but the Flight control directer is the professional because eventhough he was annoyed and made jabs at those around him, he his professionalism helped keep these people alive. It is hilarious hearing him lose his shit on GNC at the end though right after they solved the oxygen problem. at 17:10 they first find out something is venting, and control tries to figure out what it is. at 18:30 Flight control lets control room know that the lunar module still has fuel so don't worry too much. This is followed by a broadcasting that there is only a fuel problem. at 29:00 Ecom and Flight control start arguing because Ecom is worried he can't see oxygen sensors and want them to waste some power so he could see oxygen levels because he suspects they have lost cells. Flight com decides this is a waste of resources. Crew mentions that the venting is causing them to pitch and roll. Ecom asks for power again, but gets shot down again until someone else supports him. at 35:00 they see that the pilot is using thrusters to try to combat the pitch and roll. Control tries to have backroom use a model to see where the random thrust is coming from in the hopes of identifying what tank is venting so they know what it is. at 39:00 Backroom determines where the thrust is coming from and asks to test this by direct RCS control but a discussion of power overtakes the conversation and they order the vessel powered down before resuming and ordering the pilot to do the thruster test. at 44:20 Ecom tries to convince flight control to isolate oxygen tanks. Flight control is baffled by this idea, but the Ecom convinces him its a good idea for re-entry to isolate it (re-entry is not for days a way at this point, so its understandable for flight control to not be seeing that far out). at 49:40 Ecom discovers that heating oxygen tank 1 produced no pressure change (meaning its venting), tries to convince Flight control to waste more power turning on fans to the tank to confirm this. at 50:30 Backroom has determined the thrust caused by the venting had disappeared. at 51:00 Ecom confirms oxygen tank 1 is has practically no pressure left, suggests crew evacuate to lunar module. Argument erupts as flight control is annoyed they are losing focus of the initial problem, but has back room determine the survivability of living in the Lunar module. at 54:00 crew confirms what backroom determined 4 minutes ago about the venting being stopped. at 59:00. The crew starts reading off gauges to see if there is an instrument problem while flight control is still primarily worried about having enough fuel and power remaining for the mission. Interesting sarcastic exchange between control and backroom about it. then sarcastic exchange between flight control and capcom. (turn off right sound balance to turn off the guage readings, so you can hear houston better) at 1:01:00 While the crew is giving gauge readings, Ecom finally figures out and convinces flight control that they are losing oxygen.  at 1:04:00 Ecom determines that the oxygen is leaking through fuel cell 3. at 1:05:20 Capcom informs the crew that they have an oxygen leak and to shut off fuel cell 3. At which point the crew pieces it together and confirms that that is what control is trying to tell them. Flight control loses his shit with GNC for bringing up useless information.

[@evanfinch4987]

+MyBrookes1 They had more right stuff than average humans. #simpleanswer

[@timothysandvik6865]

MyBrookes1 There was an interview with Ken Mattingly where he has a couple of key quotes. The first was when Glynn Lunney's team came on board just after the accident. Mattingly says that he had witnessed " The most magnificent display of personal leadership he's ever witnessed" by Lunney, the flight director taking over for Kranz. Even the movie script writer lamented not featuring Lunney more, but for the time constraint. The other quote is in regards to Mattingly being taken off 13. He's said that it was the best thing that could've happened due to the conditions in the LEM. He said he would've shut down, where as Swiggert performed brilliantly. Fred Haise has said he had never been more miserable. So it was a case of the right guys that were sent up.

[@maraflore]

you said it. they were professionals and had to be. they knew they were in trouble but with their extensive training in simulators which they do several times they knew that no emotion would help in getting them home. just cool calmness got them through it.

[@bujin1977]

I guess they were aware that "bouncing off the walls" and shouting at each other wouldn't have solved the problem - it would have made it a lot worse. Not that that makes it any less impressive.

[@supervideopros]

3:37 the classic line that went down in history.

[@gazzaboo8461]

If only they'd known it was coming, they wouldn't have talked over it, spoiling the moment.

[@Gabriel-he6ih]

3:41 But I still can't decipher what they said here

[@heythere135]

@@Gabriel-he6ih Lovell said "we got a Main Bus B undervolt" while at the same time mission control said "we see a hardware restart"

[@speedball1919]

53:05 I want you to get some guys to figure out minimum power in the LM to sustain life. -Gene Krantz 1970 AD

[@EorsAstroVids]

So the biggest question is this : How did they ever achieve escape velocity with the weight of the crew's massive balls on board?

[@jayxtreme6]

did you even read the specs of the Saturn V?

[@MattZab]

@@jayxtreme6 You didn't get the joke?

[@deanrichardson4712]

they made them go home and mty them bethore im sure there withes would ov abliged sorry about spelling i Englishman but no good with that shit never lisned at school thats why a aint no astronaught lol

[@dlabor1965]

They balanced it with the weight of mission control's balls.

[@williamjimenez9715]

I got the joke,this is a period when men though on their feet and didn't reply on computers for everything.

[@lunarmodule5]

100,000 + people have watched this so far....couldnt have imagined that when I first thought about doing the video. Thanks to all who have watched and supported this video - LM5

[@LS__World]

these guys were very brave calm communications my God if it was me up there i bet i have a panic attack and out of control thanks for this video upload

[@LS__World]

***** yeah i guess if i went up there i will packed up a nice cyanide pill just in case hahahaha you never know what could happen up there

[@aspenrebel]

***** should be 100 million watching/listening to this!!

[@aspenrebel]

***** well if you ran out of oxygen, then that would do you in.

[@visonanceintelligence1899]

+lunarmodule5 Thank you for doing this. I think there is alot of room for other 4 box, w/ audio on other nasa missions. I need to know how accurate your showing of the DSKY, onboard video/ news video/ is all specifically ON TIME LINE> That is what will make any further production worth while and valid. If I can help, advise. Thanks.

[@mrkeogh]

"I want you to figure out minimum power in the LM to sustain life." Christ!

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

It's amazing when you hear the calm in their voices compared to the presentation in the movie Apollo 13.

[@desertfoxx1823]

typical hollywood

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

There is a problem with portraying these kinds of things is that you're not watching a documentary; you're watching a fiction based on history.

[@Zoomer30]

add to that that the movie took some "artistic license". It was still better than SpaceCamp (yeeeeesh)

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

It took a lot of artistic license. The argument in the LM about throwing the switch never happened and never would have happened. Swaggert was an expert on the CM. Haise would never have questioned him.

[@robertsnyder2252]

Let's not forget that we got an slightly edited version the crew and Houston; no coverup; nothing wrong; just standard military air ops;

[@meangreen8873]

Krantz is a hell of a flight director. Leader I'd follow any day.

[@MegaFPVFlyer]

Just knowing this is the real thing, I think this is more intense than the movie. I.e. when you can start to hear shuffling in the background of the Flight Directors Loop and you know those people are aware something has gone very wrong. 10:30 lol

[@universalchiro]

Whenever my wife tells me to stir anything, from O2 fuels cells to noodles, I know not to do it.

[@StressfulGengar]

Under rated comment.

[@normanpeters7544]

🤣🤣🤣

[@richardkirk5098]

universalchiro 🤣

[@stevedalbor1001]

I do alright with stirring food, but then our microwave keeps showing a Main Bus B undervolt. That really sucks...@@richardkirk5098

[@timn4481]

this is brilliant. Gene Kranz didnt do a thing without it being of high probability of being true. not a single decision was uninformed.

[@RobPanico]

44:25 is the greatest moment of high-pressure teamwork ever. Hats off to Kranz and Liebergot for this beautiful, professional exchange in such dire circumstances!

[@pashuku]

The O2 surge tank was part of the CM (not SM) that would be needed for re-entry (after disconnecting from SM) , that's why Gene got confused.

[@rbnn]

Most leaders these days never admit error no matter what

[@lyricalmajesty2821]

3:20 Houston we've had a problem

[@johndecker3120]

Yes.

[@jonneexplorer]

M Zach yes swigert says it first, then Lovell repeats it when CAPCOM asks. It’s the same in the movie :)

[@jonneexplorer]

Well it’s changed to present tense but other than that

[@julianjamison995]

M Zach no it was Jim Lovell

[@jonneexplorer]

Julian Jamison no it’s Swigert, Lovell repeats it...

[@EdWeibe]

36:20 "control: ok 13 we've got lots and lots of people working on this. When we find out some [dope] aka info , you'll be the first to know" "Lovell: oh thank you". The man was polite when staring into the face of death

[@willoughbykrenzteinburg]

It's pretty telling to me that on these long-form videos that really get into the nitty gritty of these missions, you very rarely see comments from those that wanna call these missions fake. It's because videos like these would actually educate people on how things actually panned out. It's why none of those hoaxers really know anything about how these missions worked - because educational videos like this are just not watched by them. They watch conspiracy videos and hoax videos and fake videos, and their attention span is about 5 minutes. Seriously - go to any video that actually delves into any details of the Apollo program, and you will be hard-pressed to find someone calling the missions fake. That should tell you all you need to know about the education level of hoaxers.

[@reeceemmitt2369]

Amazing how quickly Kranz - the leader - goes from questioning Liebergot’s view to being fully behind it. Mark of great leader. 44:40 ‘I don’t understand that Sy...’ 45:15 ‘What we’re really doing is securing our entry systems right now’

[@AureliusR]

True, but they did tease him afterward and even presented him with a cake decorated with the words "I don't understand that, Sy" at the party after the crew got home. Being flight director, he probably should have known the surge tank was in the CM :P But yes, Kranz was a phenomenal flight director.

[@jasonvogue4487]

the idiots that think this is fake are insane.. Rodge that!! it's totally disrespectful to all the men and women that worked so hard.. and Gene Kranz you are an amazing person

[@EdWeibe]

dont even entertain the thought.

[@MrJm323]

I don't think it's insanity or stupidity, I think it's actually malice. They want to undercut the achievement for some reason.

[@williamlinington9166]

People of this ilk have a hard time facing reality in their own lives.

[@redoberon]

I dont think they are worthy of attention, dont ever bother with that people.

[@adaptivelogic1354]

@@williamlinington9166 I would have said "People of this ilk have a hard time facing reality in their own BORING and INSIGNIFICANT lives."

[@pnw_dev7934]

"What do we have in the spacecraft that's good?"

[@johnroby6524]

Tim Woods "These guys talkin' about bangs and shimmies doesn't sound like instrumentation to me."

[@leematthews7755]

10:30

[@dazzaboy04]

"You close the valves you can't open them again you can't land on the moon with only one healthy fuel cell!" "Gene, the Odysee is dying. From my chair here, this is the last option"

[@jonneexplorer]

Its amazing how much of the movie consists of actual quotes... Ironically Kranz’s most famous line “failure is not an option” was never stated during the mission. However Gene liked it and the delivery so much that he made it the title of his autobiography. He is as much a legend as any astronaut...

[@2199SPUDMAN]

When you know everything is FUBAR.

[@gx2music]

11:24 the best bit. “Affirmative we’re trying to come up with some good ideas for you”. The spacecraft has literally exploded. Man I just love these engineers trying to work a problem. No panic. Just solve the problem.

[@Zoomer30]

The story of Apollo 13 defines how usually these accidents are caused from a series of small, seemingly unrelated events that add up to an accident. 1. A few years before Apollo 13, the tank involved was dropped slightly at the factory being removed from the Service Module rack. 2. Everything seemed fine so it was reinstalled. 3. During development of the cyro fan/thank heater system, it was discovered that the system was only rated for spacecraft voltage, which is much lower than ground support voltage. So the specs were raised for everything.... Except the thermostat. 4. The thermostat would not have been an issue until a tanking test for Apollo 13 at the pad. Now the slight jolt the tank took was discovered to have caused damage to the drain pipe. A part that would only be used on the ground. The O2 would not come out. 5. The fix was to fire up the heaters and the fans and force the gas out. Now the thermostat comes into play. Not rated for pad power, it instantly fuses shut. The heater stays on and drives the temp of the tank well over safe levels. A gauge on the pad was pegged at the max allowed temp, so it could not show an issue. 6. Now the tank is full of O2 on the flight and also a bunch of bare wires. The rest is history.....

[@lunarmodule5]

Zoomer30 I believe that the company that made the thermostat were informed to change the specs of the thermostat but it never got changed....if memory serves correctly...Also that tank was scheduled for Apollo 10 originally

[@DDashTrait]

#LittleThings

[@SpenserRoger]

Thanks for the explainer but I'm still confused.

[@Zoomer30]

@@SpenserRoger In a nutshell, the "drop" the tank took unknowingly knocked the drain pipe lose. So they had to use the heater after the test (about 2 years after the drop) Which had a bad thermostat. If the drop had not happened, even with a bad thermostat, the tanking test would have been fine and the heater would not have been used on the ground. If the heater was used in space, again, no issue since it would be on much lower spacecraft power. Add to that the gauge that was pegged at the the max temperature allowed, had that been able to show higher temps the ground crew would have been able to see the tank was getting to hot and stopped it. At that point, Apollo 13 would be have been postponed until they could have replaced the entire tank, which is what they should have done. Lovell had that option when the tanking issue started during the test, but Apollo crews knew every flight was at risk of being cut. He felt it was safe (naturally no one knew about the thermostat issue)

[@keithcostello1388]

Bro you are a detective or what? Thanks for the info.

[@theproplady]

In the movie, when Lovell mentioned seeing the spacecraft venting gas, everyone seemed to know it was oxygen and it was a dramatic moment, but here they didn't seem to figure it out right away. Gene Krantz has such a calm voice. I'd navigate a spacecraft through hell if he were guiding me...

[@MyBrookes1]

+theproplady I think because so many problems happened at the same time including the fuel cells, the Co2 vents, the oxygen tanks that they couldn't think which gas and fuel was leaking, so they didn't want to risk doing anything with burns and engines incase it was the fuel, so think they needed to be 100% before they did anything

[@rm1133]

Gene never spoke to the astronauts but I agree he was a smooth operator

[@stephencourton3328]

Seemed even at end of video they just speculated a O2 line ruptured going into fuel cell three. No one so far on messages has speculated the tank actually exploded.

[@stephencourton3328]

A lot of gasses in service module. Fuel, oxygen, nitrogen, helium. Last two for pressure. While knowing something leaking they don’t know what. Seems power loss also affected instruments in tanks.

[@gpdude22]

The opening explains that this isn't in real time. Did you bother reading it or just skip ahead looking for cool special effects?

[@PJShu]

Even though this was a failed mission, in my opinion this was NASA’s finest hour.

[@AflacMan13]

The epic level of CALM in this situation, on both ground and the crew side... now THAT is professionalism, and real bravery.

[@andrewzhang1290]

It’s amazing. You might say that they were trained to be calm, but just imagine yourself in their position. You are in 0-g in space, and there is a leak on your spacecraft that might snap in half, with limited air. You could die that very hour if you didn’t do things correctly. Just imagine for a second and really immerse yourself.

[@AureliusR]

They would have been a lot more panicked if they didn't have the LM attached and in good shape. As has been pointed out so many times, if this had happened at ANY point after PDI they would have been more or less screwed. They would certainly have died without the LM.

[@JJR53]

Thank you Aquarius You will alway be on our minds and in our hearts.

[@gx2music]

18:50 is where the famous quote happens. “Let’s not solve it by guessing”. Engineering to the max.

[@1989Goodspeed]

19:20 Gene Kranz... chills

[@lunarmodule5]

LOL I go to bed and overnight 20,000 people watch this video! I shoulda charged royalties lol

[@penliu3826]

Gizmodo.com linked me here. A good video deserves to be shared. Thank you

[@lunarmodule5]

Peter Werner Thanks Peter - I am planning on attempting STS-1 for the next full mission series. However, I am having problems obtaining the 2 or 3TV broadcasts footage from that flight. Everything else is ready to go. Maybe someone out there has that footage might get in touch

[@lunarmodule5]

pen penh Thanks pen - I appreciate all the good words on this and other videos

[@soloyoujo]

I just saw this video, and I also saw you have the whole mission transmissions, but just for the Apollo/Earth communications, could you upload the Flight Control transmissions (Left ear in this video) for the mission? At least from the time the O2 tank blew up. Hearing their troubleshooting and decision making just keeps me hooked up to it. This video was amazing, moving, thank you very much for this, it just made my day! And if you could upload what I just said, that would make me very happy. Thank you very much again!!

[@lunarmodule5]

Ujo - I will think about doing that when I have finishe the Apollo 13 Full Mission series. Thank you very much for your comments and kudos - appreciated

[@Ellwoodsss1]

Gene Kranz is one of the finest leaders this country has ever produced

[@ddbrock9675]

Thanks for posting this up. Really conveys just how good this team and the crew really were. Their hard work and diligence saved this mission, and the lives of the crew. Gene Kranz has long been an idol of mine, this is one reason why.

[@lunarmodule5]

DD Brock you are most welcome DD

[@johndecker3120]

Tough and Competent.

[@suesmith3744]

I wanted to scream " Don't stir the tanks ❗️❗️"

[@jonneexplorer]

Sue Smith while funny, I would like to point out that this wasn’t an option either... If you don’t stir the tanks the oxygen will coagulate on the tank, stopping flow... They would have to be stirred... There was really no way to prevent this once the ship went up with a faulty component...

[@pajasa62]

I agree Sue! After the explosion you wonder if the crew thought much of the fact that they stirred the tank as the cause because almost 2 minutes passed between flipping the switch and the explosion.

[@gorillaau]

Tanks should be shaken, not stirred.

[@jessemedina4482]

@@jonneexplorer Stir the tanks by hand!!!!!

[@johnmccnj]

Another 20/20 hindsight scream - for a different catastrophe - would be "Don't try to miss that iceberg!!"

[@bullwinklejmoos]

I'm a kid playing with my model of the command module and lunar module while the tv is showing Jules Bergman talking about the grave situation Apollo 13 is in. It was so long ago but this video makes it seem like it was yesterday. Thank you for posting.

[@lunarmodule5]

Welcome!

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

We always got our space coverage from Wally and Wally on CBS. ;)

[@elhijodelchupacabra]

17:20 Everybody realises the problem is real and not an "instrumentatio malfunction"

[@paulwalters3446]

This is so very interesting. I was only 13 years old when this took place and had no idea what mission control was doing. This is absolutely fascinating. Thank you. Provides a full window into the workings of MC.

[@lunarmodule5]

Thanks for your comments Paul - I am glad the video has been interesting.

[@aSStronaut111]

You were 13 years old and it was Apollo 13.

[@buddy5129]

coincidence? I think not! great job, Danny! (peladophobian reference, look him up on youtube)

[@nutsackmania]

@@aSStronaut111 I know right?!

[@eberlined]

Funny listening to this and realizing how much the movie dramatized this.

[@GamePlayWithNolan]

Doug Eberline yeah

[@ferrari2k]

Well, it's a movie... what do you expect? ;)

[@cottagechskitty]

And they didn't dramatize it as much as some filmmakers would have. Ron Howard didn't take as much artistic license as many would have.

[@GrooveYouVerse]

I wonder what this would be if Apollo 13 was directed by Michael Bay

[@bujin1977]

I think the explosion would have been nuclear-sized. Imagine the lens flares if JJ Abrams got involved...

[@Zoomer30]

Gene Kranz could easily win a staring contest against Chuck Norris, and make him have an accident.....

[@whorayful]

Wow, still sends shivers done the spine, those guys calmly working through a life and death situation. There is a comment made late in the clip it's quite in the background but clearly audible, it says something like 'we need to reconfigure the module for maximum life support capability', dang that's serious shit. Excellent video, thankyou for putting in the effort to upload it.

[@lunarmodule5]

whorayful Thanks whorayful - It was a labour of love putting this one together.

[@aspenrebel]

whorayful Well, they knew they had "zero" and dropping readings, they knew that the mission was scrubbed. So they immediately evaluated the amount of oxygen, electric power, fuel, and water remaining. The lunar module is one tough little ship.

[@nutsackmania]

They've all almost died in jets a bunch of times probably, so that does help.

[@Lepidopray]

Funny: In the Ron Howard movie Clint Howard has to walk up to Krantz to show him what's wrong. At around 1:01:40 ECOM says he's sending Clint up to Krantz to show him what's wrong.

[@ApolloVIIIYouAreGoForTLI]

I've panicked more on a toilet on earth than these three are 320,000kms in space post explosion.

[@bradwilmot5066]

I get the feeling that Sy really wanted to say "Flight, EECOM, it looks like we're fucked..."

[@iconicfury]

I'm amazed that the Saturn V had enough thrust to carry the massive sets of balls of these men. Jesus, to be in Deep Space, venting oxygen, loosing power after suffering a partial RUD... And then just to go to work, down the checklist, calmly and pull off the probably the greatest McGyver'd plan even attempted in space. Fucking. Legends.

[@jacobjorgenson9285]

That's pretty much all astronauts do, check lists! Go watch space shuttle cockpit landings and you can see checklists plastered all over the front window. Anything happens , there's a checklist . However, one has to salute the creative thinking in finding away to fit the it filter using among other things duct tape, but that was done on earth

[@Ror0009]

@@jacobjorgenson9285 yeah very easy anyone can do it … hmm

[@MickeyMouse-zu2yk]

Update - "massive sets of TITANIUM balls of these men"

[@Cristian-vm1bg]

It's amazing that for the movie the actual version, explosion on a spacecraft in space, wasnt dramatic enough. Had to make the guys seem more panicked and scared. The Apollo program was just loaded with unbelievable badasses in space and on the ground. Best of the best indeed.

[@Crowbars2]

Yeah, it's so weird coming from the film to this. Tom Hanks sounded professional, scared, but trying to inhibit the fear to get the information to mission control. The real Captain Lovell just sounded annoyed. Like he was thinking "Goddamn, why'd it have to be our mission that fails?" No fear in his voice whatsoever.

[@MH-Tesla]

​@@Crowbars2Yeah, actors make it WAY more exciting for sure. 😂 This was a YAWNER. 😵‍💫

[@TactileCoder]

You know, the incident isn't as glamorous as media makes it out to be. By 9:25 they were still unsure the cause of the undervolt was instrumentation issue vs an actual failure (or in this case an explosion) and were still trying a couple of different things to restore things. Just goes to show at the end of the day they were human beings in a confusing situation. Doesn't make it any less heroic of an action, but a lot more imaginable.

[@davidrobinson4118]

Only just started watching your vids. Thanks for the great work, they are so, so interesting. I was hooked on the Apollo flights when I was at school and it started a lifelong interest in astronomy and space flight. These vids just bring it so much to life. Hearing those guys deal with that situation in such a professional and calm manner is humbling. Best wishes from the U.K.

[@DrefootyOrg]

17:16 "we are venting something! We are venting something out into space"

[@Xxwicksy2217xX]

That would be terrifying to see

[@ZombieGuy2401]

It was a very real possibility these men would be the first to die in space, and yet the fact they sound so calm. Truly astonishing people.

[@baberoot1998]

Thanks for posting this. This is amazing stuff. Absolutely phenomenal, what mankind has accomplished in such a short period of time. If you think about it...in less than 100 years, 1869 to 1969...mankind went from horse and buggy...to being able to land on the moon. Phenomenal.

[@lunarmodule5]

Glad you liked it Babe

[@zanpsimer7685]

LM5 recommends using headphones to get the clear distinction between CapCom and Flight Control to get an accurate feel for the event. However, when I put this on my TV it’s even more pronounced and I recommend listening this way for optimum effect. Thank you so much LM5 for creating these excellent videos.

[@mpa1931]

These guys were test pilots, the most mentally tough guys on the planet. No wonder they were so calm through it all.

[@davemiles9290]

You can hear the calm leadership from Gene Kranz coming over in this, interesting to hear Capcom and Flight control communicating at the same time.

[@timmundorff2354]

As a project manager Gene is my greatest inspiration.

[@456swagger]

Na, There toward the end Kranz was losing it. When Capcom requested more instrumentation Kranz brought in an Alto sax and a snare drum.

[@jonneexplorer]

Only flight control hears it all. The rest only hear capcom, and their own communications with flight.

[@inglepropnoosegarm7801]

Real drama, leading to some of NASA'a finest hours.

[@gregpartridge1142]

Thank you so much for uploading this, it is greatly appreciated. From a command and control perspective, its textbook. Flight never stubbled or portrayed any sign of concern to 13 - kept everyone focussed. Its interesting that Flight wanted to be 100% sure that escape into Aquarius was absolutely essential, before requesting 13 to do so. That takes guts to stay that cool, rather than passing on a command that could be later regretted. I'll listen to the remaining audio in your other parts ASAP. Well done.

[@LukelearMissile]

This is bloody fascinating

[@LasVegas68]

Just found this Video you posted about the Apollo 13 accident. I remembered being glued to the tv when this happened. I have seen Apollo 13, and to hear the actual Transmissions between Houston and the Crew is totally awesome! Thanks for sharing this!

[@lunarmodule5]

Donald Thomas hi Donald - am glad you liked the presentation - the entire Apollo 13 mission is available on the channel also. regards Lm5

[@MattZab]

Please make one of these for other flights! A complete "As It Happened" for mission highlights on both loops- Launch, TLI, LOI, Undock, Descent, EVAs, Ascent, Rendezvous, TEI, Re-entry, for Apollo 8, 11, 15 please! (I recognize that not all of those objectives were present in all of the missions I listed, but you know what I'm asking) Thanks for this spectacular audio clipping!

[@lunarmodule5]

Hi Matt - the Apollo 11 series will be similar to this...in that the FD loop is included...regards LM5

[@Angus_Gibson]

You gonna leave Apollo 12 off that list like SCE to AUX didn't happen or the fact that it's 3 best friends on an interstellar road trip?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jackwall1734]

One of the greatest lessons in leadership of all time! The time you spent on this project will last for generations. No one can thank you enough. The courage, strength of character, trust, determination and professionalism of these experts should be something we all emulate. Thanks to you for making an incredible contribution to history!

[@lunarmodule5]

Thanks Jack

[@ianlaker9161]

Gene Krantz was the coolest guy on earth at this point (in the true sense of that word), only surpassed by those in space.

[@michaelbyrd4389]

The split screen with audio overlay is great. I'll be watching this more than once. I love hearing the problem solving.

[@lunarmodule5]

kzbin.info/aero/PLC1yaZz2qeGrj_-TCMeupfzRUmf6CysdF

[@BlunderMunchkin]

Damn. If you didn't know what was going on and weren't paying close attention, you wouldn't think anything had gone wrong. These guys were cool AF.

[@evanfinch4987]

It's especially remarkable for someone my age who had the film as the first point of reference for the event. It's really nothing like the dramatics depicted in the movie.

[@michaeldeckert8783]

You actually do own the rights. This audio is property of the American people and is considered public domain.

[@georgevranas498]

Sy Liebergot at 29:55 to Krantz is crucial. “It’s not an instrumentation problem”.

[@normanwaterman9257]

2:56 that's when this mission lost the moon

[@AureliusR]

True, but it could have happened at any time.

[@Brandon-jv4wp]

An Amazing part of American history. Showing pure determination to bring those boys home. That never quit never give up attitude!!! Is what started America. Jim Lovell, Jack Swaggart, Fred Haise Jr... American heros and the men on the ground who brought them home. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@pepemencaoi4171]

Great video LM5, it's amazing how calm and professional both the crew and the flight controllers are.

[@lunarmodule5]

You are most welcome Pepe - Cool MOCR and astros? Did you expect anything else! ;-)

[@omarbernal2408]

these radio transmissions put me to sleep. I'm not saying it's boring. Not talking bad about it. But is it weird to say that this relaxed me more than those "hypnosis relaxing wayve sounds" and speechless nonsense videos.

[@nolancain8792]

Any space video with the communications always puts me to sleep. Not even sure why it does.

[@ronaldtartaglia4459]

Ron Howard made Swiggert, Kraft, and Slayton look like dunskies. Swiggert literally wrote the book on command module emergency procedures. Literally.

[@rchurch79]

Always amazes me how these men survived.. the men in mission control say failture is not an option and they showed it here.

[@stevengrandey7998]

It was the o2 fuel cell that failed, not the breathing air. /it was a series of event that caused it to fail. the tank was dropped just before final assembly and not reinspected, and NASA changed the operating voltage for the fans and didnt inform the contractor the built the tank or whom was installing it so they could check that it met the voltages requirments.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

Steven Grandey Not to mention using an unapproved shortcut turning on the tank heaters to boil off the O2 from the fueling test prior to launch. Because the thermostat was fused by the higher voltage, the temperature went much much higher and burned the wiring insulation. When enough O2 was converted from cryogenic slush to gas, and the tanks were stirred, *BOOM* . The tanks were stirred several times more than normal because the O2 tank 2 pressure read "off scale high" several times before the explosion.

[@104thDIVTimberwolf]

The oxygen tank that failed was multipurpose. It was fuel cells and breathing air, as well as propulsion.

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

@@104thDIVTimberwolf And water for drinking and cooling the components.

[@colinmontgomery5492]

Wow. This is less than a year out from the first landing, and already they are on the third lunar landing mission. This was a breathtaking pace. One that is sorely missed today.

[@daveshaw9344]

And people were already bored of it....tv stations wwerent even covering it anymore Seems nuts to me as well

[@PCCphoenix]

2:57--A loud squawk, which is probably the O2 fuel tank explosion! RED ALERT

[@ziggybadans]

I believe that was the high gain antenna being damaged and losing signal, it shortly switched from narrow to wideband mode and regained signal automatically.

[@bobbiema6671]

If you listen to the fill playback of the mission, I think the only time I heard Captain Lovell's voice change pitch was out of amazement, not fear. It was when he first saw the hole in the CSM. No fear when the explosion happened nor when they were attempting retrajectories or nearing re-entery. Now, I wonder if astronaut's kids ever could "push their buttons" and what did the scolding sound like??!! 😊

[@JoseNeto-kx5pg]

At 34:40 and for the next minutes they found that the thruster is firing to hold the space crat in place counter reacting to the leak. Then they decide to calculate the velocity and direction that the thruster is outputting to figure if they can deduce the direction of the leak and then what it would be. Did i got this right? If so pretty amazing job this guys did

[@robertsnyder2252]

I had the unique opportunity to have met General Collins. (Apollo 11); I was stationed at George AF, and the General was flying in for gas and lunch. I (along with the usual greeting team) met the Jet and we escorted him to flight ops, then, to lunch. He didn't buy... lol... lifelong experience.

[@lunarmodule5]

Robert Snyder Great memory Robert - thanks for sharing - LM5

[@benprewitt4600]

Like alot of folks, I saw Apollo 13 the film when I was a kid. And I fell in love with it. I was already into the space program: I remember stopping at Huntsville on the way to Disney in Florida having my picture taken in a park with a Redstone. My wife and I had a Gemini capsule on our wedding cake. For me, the line from the film that always stuck in my head was when Ed Harris as Gene Kranz says: "Let's look at this from a standpoint of status...what do we have on the spacecraft that's good?" Like they're so far down the list of stuff that's failed, they have to start over and just make a list of what they've got. And it kind of rattles him. And hearing Gene Kranz actually SAY THOSE WORDS sent a chill up my spine. I rewound it and listened to it a few times because it was like a dream or something. Lunarmodule5, thank you so much for doing this stuff. I hope you know how much those of us out here in the æther appreciate the work you do!

[@lunarmodule5]

Thanks for your comments Ben...and am glad you have enjoyed the videos... regards LM5

[@jamescooper2618]

OK, I may be a Nerd but I really appreciated this! Take away today's computers and the internet, do you think we would be able to handle this problem today? I don't! They were using SLIDE RULES!!

[@joemacneil2]

Thank you for preparing this video, I had heard the air-to-ground loop on its own before but having the flight director's as well adds a lot.

[@lunarmodule5]

+joemacneil2 Welcome Joe !

[@gx2music]

This should be played to every pilot school on the planet. Half of their spacecraft has blown up - and there’s Lovell reporting on “main bus B under volt” calm as hell. It takes a special kind of person to be THAT calm under pressure. We call them “astronauts”

[@XalphYT]

44:26 When the instruction comes down to isolate the surge tank, then we know with certainty that the moon was lost. Mission control was already planning for the return to earth.

[@EVAUnit4A]

I just got _bored_ listening to one of the most hair-raising moments in American spaceflight history. If you didn't know what the hell they were talking about, you'd have absolutely no idea what this is and you'd walk right past it. It's truly amazing how calm and collected everyone was working on this flight!

[@xyz.ijk.]

That static at 2:58 is the explosion.

[@tsd_ju7084]

50th Anniversary of this amazing story of human ingenuity, engineering and above all calmness. It truly is *the* moment of glory in all of human history.

[@richardmourdock2719]

"we are venting something...." Turn out the lights, the party is over (although the crew knew by then the landing was scratched. The ground folks hadn't quite figured it out by then but would very, very shortly. A shame that Lovell and Haise never got to land but still a remarkable technological achievement to bring them home. I was a college freshman, a science geek and don't think I slept for four days).

[@binkyschiller78]

17:23 "houston, we are venting something out into space." 19:24 "let's work the problem people, let's not make things worse by guessing."

[@deaustin4018]

I could see any of these guys as test pilots heading straight for the ground at 10000 feet per minute as say something like, "uh, stand by one, ground, while I work this problem"

[@mpersad]

An extraordinary record of Apollo 13 and NASA's extraordinary achievement in dealing with the initial hour of the disaster. Really humbling to hear those men discussing such a disaster in such cool and measured terms, no flapping, and as Gene Krantz memorably said "working the problem". Outstanding team!

[@timn4481]

they are literally re-wiring the ship in real time, guided by the control centre. they have triple redundant systems on board, and it seems that one way to control them is to physically switch from failed circuits, to working ones..at one point they were mapping systems to the working bus..simultaneously switching others off entirely.

[@gx2music]

I’d have an entire room at a massive rave just playing this. Not joking. This saved my life. Thank you so much for the upload.

[@gx2music]

Been sick with the new Corona. Or whatever they are spraying. Your uploads are so soothing. You can switch off and just listen. Thank you friend.

[@TheWalterHWhite]

It's truly amazing that we got these guys home. The massive list of problems that they encountered, and the limited resources they had. You make a mistake and you're dead. Great minds.

[@lemming9502]

How 17:15 isn't on most replayed... "We are venting something"