Chapter 2: Crisis

The Explosion

Apollo 13 Service Module with visible damage
The moment everything changed - 200,000 miles from Earth

The Routine Request

Day 3 - April 13, 1970. All systems normal. The crew had just finished a live TV broadcast and was settling in for a routine evening. Then Mission Control asked Jack Swigert for a standard bit of housekeeping: "We'd like you to stir up your cryo tanks."

Remember those oxygen tanks in the Service Module from your tour? Oxygen is stored as supercold liquid (-297°F). Fans stir the tanks to prevent stratification and get accurate readings. This had been done dozens of times on previous missions. It should take seconds...

GET 55:54:53 - BANG

Swigert flips the switch...

  • 💥 LOUD BANG - Spacecraft shakes violently
  • 🚨 Master alarm sounds
  • ⚠️ Warning lights everywhere
  • 😨 Crew feels the ship lurch

Jack Swigert: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here"
Houston: "Say again please"
Jim Lovell: "Houston, we've had a problem"

What They Saw

Through the window:

  • "Sparklies" - a glittering debris field surrounding the spacecraft
  • Venting gas creating a cloud around them
  • Something is catastrophically wrong
  • Oxygen pouring into space

On the instruments:

  • Oxygen tank 2 pressure: ZERO
  • Oxygen tank 1 pressure: FALLING
  • Fuel cells: Two offline
  • Main bus B voltage: Dropping
  • Warning lights: Cascading failures

Lovell: "We are venting something out into space"

The Damage (Unknown Until Later)

What actually happened:

  • ❌ Oxygen tank #2 exploded in Service Module
  • ❌ Entire 13-foot panel blown off spacecraft
  • ❌ Oxygen tank #1 damaged (now leaking)
  • ❌ Fuel cells failing (need oxygen to generate power)
  • ❌ Service module crippled
  • ❌ Main engine (SPS) unsafe to use

The crew won't see the full damage until Service Module jettison at GET 138:02

The Crisis Unfolds

Immediate problems:

🌬️ Losing oxygen - Need it to breathe and generate power
⚡ Losing power - Fuel cells dying without oxygen
🚀 Losing main engine - Can't thrust directly home
📍 200,000 miles from Earth - Still coasting AWAY, toward the Moon, at about 2,000-3,000 mph

Mission Control Realizes:

❌ Moon landing: IMPOSSIBLE

❌ Normal return: IMPOSSIBLE

❓ Crew survival: UNCERTAIN

"Okay, let's everybody keep cool. Let's solve the problem, but let's not make it any worse by guessing." — Gene Kranz, Flight Director

What's At Stake

The math is brutal:

3 astronauts

200,000 miles from Earth

Crippled spacecraft

Limited oxygen, power, water

Nearly 4 days to get home

Margin for error: ZERO

This is now a survival mission.