Word: odyssey
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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About 30,000 miles from earth, the astronauts began preparing for their final separation maneuver. Climbing into Odyssey, they switched on its oxygen tanks and batteries and sealed the hatch shut. Then the crew exploded the small bolts connecting the command module with the LM. Propelled by the release of air in the connecting tunnel, the Aquarius drifted rapidly away, its lifeboat function reliably and amply fulfilled. "LM jettison," reported Apollo 13. "O.K.," replied Mission Control. "Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank...
...minutes later, Apollo 13 began its novel separation procedures. Again hitting the thrusters, Lovell forced Aquarius against the command and service modules. Almost simultaneously, Swigert fired several explosive bolts, detaching the service module from Odyssey. Lovell also fired the LM's thrusters again. The "push-pull" tactic shoved the service module away from Aquarius and Odyssey, enabling the astronauts to see the disabled module for the first time. It was an incredible sight. The module had lost an entire 15-foot-long panel covering Bay 4, and a tangle of wiring and debris trailed out of the gaping hole. Using...
...monitoring stations lost contact with Odyssey as it was enveloped by ionized gases formed by the heat of reentry. For three minutes and 38 seconds, the world anxiously waited to learn whether the astronauts had survived the final portion of their perilous voyage. Finally, the answer came. Responding to a call from one of the rescue planes, Apollo 13 replied: "O.K., Joe." A few seconds later, the descending spaceship hove into view of the TV cameras on the Iwo Jima's decks about four miles away. Under billowing white-and-orange main chutes, the spacecraft drifted slowly downward, headed...
...near Denver, his brakes failed and his plane slammed into the base's arresting cables, but he escaped unhurt. Although he was a last-minute replacement on Apollo 13's star-crossed trip, Swigert showed great skill in improvising new emergency procedures after the explosion crippled the Odyssey. But then he should have. He helped develop the original emergency procedures for the command module's instruction manual...
...raising his voice, he swiftly executed a series of critical moves. As life gradually ebbed out of the service module's vital oxygen tanks and fuel cells, he ordered valves closed, switches turned off, and countless other emergency procedures. When it became all too clear that Odyssey would have to be evacuated, he made sure to check the lunar module's own critical functions-guidance, oxygen, power-before directing the astronauts to begin their "lifeboat mode" inside Aquarius...