Apollo 13 | 43 Amps | 4

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The three astronauts on the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft round the Moon and finally begin the return leg of their journey toward Earth. But their troubles are far from over. They still have to strictly ration the amount of power they’re using, so they have enough remaining for the all-important reentry procedure. They also must execute a series of precise “burns”—firing their rockets at just the right instant to get them back on a trajectory to Earth. One small mistake could send them hurtling into deep space, never to return.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Astronaut Jim Lovell takes one last look at the moon out of the window of Apollo 13.
0:14.7	Its rugged, silvery white surface still fills the entire window, but it's starting to
0:19.8	recede as they fly further away.
0:23.4	It's April 14, 1970.
0:26.1	The day he should have spent walking on the lunar surface, instead he's saying a last
0:31.3	goodbye to that lifelong dream.
0:34.5	He was so close.
0:36.6	But he can't dwell on it.
0:39.0	Right now, his focus is on getting their damaged spacecraft back to Earth.
0:44.3	Lovell turns back to his two crewmates and back to the latest challenge they face.
0:49.4	How much time until the burn, Jack?
0:51.3	Jack Swigert has to contort his body in the crowded lunar module to raise his arm and
0:56.0	check his watch.
0:57.4	53 seconds, Jim.
0:59.7	Copy.
1:00.7	Start to countdown when we hit 10.
1:03.7	Lovell, Swigert, and Fred Hayes are traveling more than 2,000 miles per hour, but they're
1:09.7	still almost a quarter million miles from Earth.
1:13.3	It's been nearly 24 hours since an explosion crippled Apollo 13, forcing them to abandon
1:18.8	their plans to land on the moon.
1:21.3	Now they're trying to figure out a way home and they're exhausted.
1:25.4	They've barely slept in 36 hours.
	...

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