Apollo 13 (Totally True Adventures) by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Author:Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld [Zoehfeld, Kathleen Weidner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-385-39127-6
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2015-03-24T04:00:00+00:00

The White Team entered the control room. They went over the plans with the astronauts one more time.

“Aquarius, Houston,” said the Capcom.

“Go ahead, Houston.”

“Okay, Jim, we have a little over two minutes until loss of signal. And everything is looking good here.”

“Roger,” said Lovell. “See you on the other side.”

It was Tuesday, April 14. At 6:15 p.m., Houston time, radio contact was lost.

Lovell, Haise, and Swigert stared down at the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth. Only a few astronauts had ever seen it. That day it was mostly a dark shadow beneath the ship. The Sun lit up one slim crescent. When they reached the sunlit part, Swigert and Haise stared in awe. They got out their cameras and began snapping photos.

Lovell thought about his Apollo 8 mission. How close he had been! If things had gone right, he and Haise would have been preparing to pilot the LM to the surface right now. He felt the sharp sting of disappointment.

In Mission Control, the Maroon Team drank coffee and waited. Kranz and his White Team kept checking and rechecking their calculations. They were determined to make sure absolutely nothing went wrong.

Then, at the expected time, Mission Control picked up the ship’s signal again.

Lovell moved around, nervously getting things ready. Haise and Swigert were still glued to their windows. They kept taking photos. Finally, Lovell folded his arms across his chest. He shouted at his crewmates and asked them what they were thinking.

Haise’s and Swigert’s heads spun toward their commander.

“We have a burn coming up!” cried Lovell. “Is it your intention to participate in it?”

“Jim,” said Haise, “this is our last chance to get these shots. Don’t you think they’re going to want us to bring back some pictures?”

“Hey! If we don’t get home, you’ll never get them developed!” Lovell shouted. “Now lookit. Let’s get the cameras squared away. And let’s get set to burn.”

Haise and Swigert stowed their cameras and returned to their stations.

They read the spacecraft’s position from the LM’s computer. The Capcom radioed up the instructions. Haise punched in the data.

The White Team gave everything one final check. Everything looked good. At 8:40 p.m., Houston time, the Capcom said, “Jim, you are go for the burn, go for the burn!”

“Roger. Understand. Go for the burn,” replied Lovell. He flashed a thumbs-up.

He flipped the switch on Aquarius’s control panel. The engine rumbled beneath their feet. After exactly four and a half minutes, the computer shut the engine down.

“That was a good burn, Aquarius,” declared the Capcom.

The Mission Control officers stood and cheered. The astronauts had sped up enough to cut ten hours off their trip. They were on their way home! If all went well, they would come down in the Pacific Ocean around noon on Friday, April 17.

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