Word: aquarius
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...every moment of the final, fiery descent. Journey's end was safe and all according to script, in sharp contrast to the crisis of mid-voyage, which had been full of unprecedented danger and breathtaking improvisation. The devastated service module, original source of the deadly hazard, peeled off properly. Aquarius, the lunar module that had served as savior instead of explorer, unzipped easily. The command unit Odyssey touched down within four miles of the U.S.S. Iwo Jima. Helicopter recovery ticked along as if automated. Soon Lovell, Haise and Swigert were on the carrier's flight deck, hearing Rear Admiral Donald...
...from more than 200,000 miles out in space Commander Jim Lovell had just wound up a televised tour of the spacecraft. "This is the crew of Apollo 13 wishing everyone there a nice evening," he said. "We're just about ready to close out our inspection of Aquarius and get back for a pleasant evening in Odyssey." Minutes later, the almost idyllic journey of Astronauts Lovell, Fred Haise and John Swigert turned into a heart-pounding nightmare...
...Apollo 13 was still very much in trouble, there was one consolation: if the accident had to happen, it had occurred when the astronauts and Mission Control could do something about it. Had the service module become disabled later in the mission?during the lunar landing or afterward, when Aquarius had been discarded?the astronauts would have been doomed. The lunar module, lacking a heat shield to withstand the awesome temperatures of reentry, could not carry the crew back to the earth's surface. But its oxygen, electrical power and descent engine were vital to the safe return of Odyssey...
Swigert, too, will be left behind on Wednesday night, to orbit the moon in the command module Odyssey while Lovell and Haise make their scheduled descent in the lunar module Aquarius to land near Fra Mauro. Stopping 500 ft. or so west of their spacecraft on their first moon walk (see diagram), they will deploy a set of nuclear-powered experiments that should radio data to earth for at least a year. Their equipment will include two ingenious new devices to pry more secrets from the moon as well as the space around...
...three-James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., and Jack L. Swigert-fired the main engine of Aquarius, their moon lander...