Article 1: Topic – Apollo

13
The number 13 holds special significance
to many cultures, (1) conventionally
associated with bad luck. When the 13th
day of the month falls on a Friday, the day
takes on the same associations; most
treat “Friday the 13th” as a (2) cursed
day, though a few are skeptical of its (3)
potency.

In the spring of 1970 however, Americans

were taking interest in another 13: space
shuttle Apollo 13. It wasn’t the mission to
the moon that had people talking — the
Vietnam war was making more headlines
— but the mission’s (4) controversial
title. Humanity’s greatest scientific
endeavor was coming face-to-face with
one of its most enduring superstitions.

NASA[1] scoffed at the idea that Apollo

13 was a cursed mission, as did the crew’s
commander Jim Lovell. For Lovell, along
with the mission’s co-pilots Ken
Mattingly and Fred Haise, the most
interesting part of the mission was its
scientific return. Apollo 13 was supposed
to study the Fra Mauro highlands, an area
previously unvisited and

Lovell became the commander of Apollo

13 by chance. He, Mattingly, and Haise
were scheduled to fly Apollo 14 when
Apollo 13 commander Alan Shepard was
forced out of the mission by a medical
problem. Always unwilling to break up a
crew if it could be avoided, NASA
switched flight assignments between the
crews of 13 and 14. Lovell had
no (5) misgiving about the change. He
orbited around the moon on Apollo 8 and
was thrilled at the prospect of returning
to walk on its surface. Whether it was on
Apollo 13 or Apollo 14 was irrelevant. His
wife Marilyn, on the other hand, wasn’t
thrilled with the assignment. Though she
wasn’t ordinarily superstitious, she had a
bad feeling about this flight. Marilyn
couldn’t help looking at the numbers. Her
husband had been in space three times
including the trip to the moon. Another
mission seemed to be (6) tempting fate.

To give the new Apollo 13 prime crew

more time to train, the launch was
delayed from March 12 to April 11.
Numerologists had a(7) field day. The
mission’s launch date written numerically
was 4-11-70; add the digits to get 13. To
reach its landing site on the moon, Apollo
13 would launch at 1:13 pm Houston time,
or 13:13 on a 24-hour military clock. From
there, the crew would enter the moon’s
gravitational pull on April 13. Luckily, it
wasn’t a Friday. April 13 was a Monday
that year.

Just days before launch, things started

going wrong with Apollo 13 when Haise’s
backup Charlie Duke got the measles.
Lovell and Haise were immune, but
Mattingly wasn’t. Lovell had no choice
but to swap out Mattingly for his backup
CMP Jack Swigert (who was immune to
measles). The new set-up spent the
normal period of rest and relaxation
before launch in simulators going
through mission phases to make sure
Swigert was caught up. His ability was
never in question — his intimate
knowledge of the command module
came from his time writing computer’s
malfunction procedures. Rather, the crew
needed time to bond and trust one
another. Just 48 hours before launch,
Swigert was proclaimed fit to fly.

On April 11, Apollo 13 launched and

achieved orbit. Two days, seven hours, 55
minutes and 20 seconds later however, on
April 13, one of Apollo 13′s oxygen tanks
exploded. This left the spacecraft
virtually crippled, as the oxygen tanks
were necessary for the supply of electrical
power. Public interest in the mission
switched from superstitious curiosity to
(8) rapt attention and unity as NASA
raced to find a way to bring the crew
home safely.

[1] NASA stands for National Aeronautics

and Space Administration.