Apollo 13

The crew's crossing gantry for capsule ingress.

Roger that.

WALTER CRONKlTE: lnspired by the late President Kennedy...

in only seven years, America has risen to the challenge of what he called:

"The most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure...

"on which man has ever embarked."

After trailing the Russians for years with our manned space program...

and after that sudden and horrible fire...

on the launch pad during a routine test...

that killed American astronauts Gus Grissom...

Ed White and Roger Chaffee. . .

there were serious doubts that we could beat the Russians to the moon.

But tonight, a mere 1 8 months after the tragedy of Apollo 1 . . .

the entire world watched in awe as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin...

landed on the moon.

The big news came just a moment ago.

Mission Control gave the spacecraft permission...

to go for the extravehicular activity...

that is, for the walk on the moon...

far earlier than anticipated, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time....

The important thing when you penetrate the lunar module is your attitude. . .

and relative speed.

Let's say this is me here in the command module and this is you. . .

-All right. -. . .in the LEM.

This thing sticking out here is called the probe.

-ls that true? -Absolutely.

Tracey, when you feel that thing slide in, everything's clicking. . .

it's like no other feeling in the world.

-A little liquid propulsion. -What's the big occasion?

How's it going at Mission Control?

lt's a nervous time. They're pacing around and smoking.

Gene Kranz is gonna have puppies. Jim Lovell.

This is Tracey.

-How do you do, Tracey? -This is the man.

Gemini 7 . Gemini 1 2. Apollo 8. They were the first around the moon.

This guy did 1 0 laps.

With one hand on the wheel. Make yourselves at home.

This is the last champagne in the city of Houston.

-Very good. -Everything else all right?

MARlLYN: Everything's on course. JlM: Looks okay. Cadet Lovell.

-Hey, Dad. -Put this on ice. Make sure it gets cold.

-You gonna get a haircut this week? -l'm on vacation.

Get a haircut.

JlM: l wouldn't mind being up there tonight. God, who wouldn't.

Don't worry. Our day's coming.

They're not gonna cut the program before number 1 4.

You know, my cousin called.

Asked who we bribed to get on Jim Lovell's crew.

l told him they wanted to make sure he got the best.

Well, they got that right.

What network do we want?

Put on Walter!

JlM: Jules Bergman !

John, turn it up!

l really appreciate. . .

you all coming to this dress rehearsal party for my Apollo 12 landing.

JlM: Sit down, Conrad.

l think we should all take a moment to recognize. . .

the exemplary. . .

hell, damn near heroic effort. . .

displayed by Neil Armstrong's backup for this historic moon walk. . .

and, of course, his crew.

Let's hear it for Jim Lovell, Ken Mattingly and Fred Haise.

There he is! Everybody quiet down !

Hey! Kids!

You got a good picture, huh?

We can verify the position of the opening l ought to have on the camera.

-You think it's too late for him to abort? -He still has time to get out.

-He just needs somebody to wave him off. -Pull up, Neil !

Pull up!

Neil , we can see you coming down the ladder now.

CRONKlTE: Look at those pictures.

l'm at the foot of the ladder.

The LEM footpads are only depressed in the surtace about...

one or two inches.

lt's almost like a powder.

CRONKlTE: Armstrong ls on the moon.

Neil Armstrong, 38-year-old American...

standing on the surtace of the moon...

on this July 20, 1 969.

That's one small step for man...

one giant leap for mankind.

CRONKlTE: His quote wes:

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

You're drunk, Lovell.

l'm not used to the champagne.

MARlLYN: Me, neither.

l can't deal with cleaning up. Let's sell the house.

All right, let's sell the house.

They're back inside now looking up at us.

lsn't that something?

l bet Jannie Armstrong doesn't get a wink of sleep tonight.

When you were on the far side on 8, l didn't sleep at all.

l just vacuumed over and over again.

Christopher Columbus, Charles Lindbergh, and Neil Armstrong.

Neil Armstrong.

From now on, we live in a world where man has walked on the moon.

lt's not a miracle.

We just decided to go.

On Apollo 8, we were so close. . .

just 60 nautical miles down and. . . .

lt was as if l could just. . .

step out and walk on the face of it.

l want to go back there.

Where's my mountain?

lt's right up by the. . . .

Do you see where the shadow crosses. . .

the white area there? That's the Sea of Tranquillity. . .

and your mountain's on the edge of that.

lt's your mountain, Marilyn. Mount Marilyn.

l don't see it.

Well, you gotta look harder.

You look harder. . .

while l. . . .

The astronaut is the most visible member of a very large team.

All of us, down to the guy sweeping the floor...

are honored to be a part of it.

What did the man say? "Give me a lever long enough and l'll move the world"?

That's what we're doing here. This is divine inspiration, folks.

lt's the best part of each one of us, the belief that anything is possible.

JlM: Things like a computer that can fit into a single room. . .

and hold millions of pieces of information. . .

or the Saturn 5 rocket.

This is the actual launch vehicle that will be taking Alan Shepard. . .

and his crew on the first leg of the Apollo 13 mission.

When are you going up again, Jim?

l'm slated to be the commander of Apollo 14 sometime late next year.

lf there is an Apollo 14.

People in my state have been asking why we're continuing. . .

to fund this program now that we've beaten the Russians to the moon.

lmagine if Christopher Columbus had come back from the New World. . .

and no one returned in his footsteps.

Attention, all personnel. Clear level 3.

JlM: Are there any other questions?

How do you go to the bathroom in space?

lt's a highly technical process. . .

of cranking down the window and looking for a gas station which. . . .

There's Deke Slayton.

JlM: You might be able to answer this lady's question.

Deke is one of the original Marcury 7 astronauts, ladies and gentlemen.

Now he's our boss. He hands out the astronauts' flight assignments. . .

so naturally we kick back part of our salaries to Deke.

-How much this month? -Can l have a minute? Something's come up.

Sure.

JlM: Anybody home? l'm not being a cheerleader, Mom !

You don't understand ! l worked so hard !

MARlLYN: Maybe l don't understand. . .

but you are not wearing that out in this neighborhood.

She's not even wearing a bra! You can see everything !

Shut up!

Hey, everybody. Marilyn, trick or treat.

You know that Easter vacation trip we had planned for Acapulco?

l was thinking there might be a slight change in destination.

Really?

Maybe, say. . .

the moon.

Al Shepard's ear infection has flared up. . .

and we've all been bumped up to the prime crew of Apollo 13.

Straight to the head of the line and the Fra Mauro Highlands.

Six months? You're moving up six months?

Dad, can l please wear this?

Sure.

No! Absolutely not.

They're not rushing things, are they? You'll be ready in six months?

We'll be ready. l wouldn't want to be around Al Shepard tonight.

l gotta get over there and get up to speed on this.

Go.

l'm gonna walk on the moon, Marilyn.

l know. l can't believe it.

Naturally, it's 1 3. Why 1 3?

lt comes after 1 2, hon.

SlM TECH 1 : Apollo 1 3, you are go for pyro arm and docking.

All systems are nominal and on the line.

S-4B is stable, SLA panels are drifting free.

The drogue is clear. The docking target is clear.

l'm coming up on that now. Two, one, mark.

Seventy-five feet. We're coming up on docking.

Let's shut down some thrusters on them. Let's see what he does.

Wait a minute.

l lost something here. l can't translate up.

Houston, we are drifting down and away.

-Wanna back off and take another run? -No, l got it.

Let me just try and get it stable here.

l'm gonna reset the high gain. l've got the target back in the reticle.

Okay, we're stable. Recycle the valves.

Forty feet. JlM: They're all gray.

Twenty.

Ten feet.

Capture. JlM: That's it!

-That's it. -Sweet move, Ken. Beautiful.

-Gentlemen, that is the way we do that. -Man, that woke me up.

SlM TECH 1 : Apollo 1 3 backup crew , you're up in the simulator.

-Nice job, gentlemen. -That's three hours of boredom. . .

followed by seven seconds of sheer terror.

Good job, guys. You just won the Christmas turkey.

Nice try, Frank.

You really outfoxed them.

Yeah, but it wasn't perfect. Used up too much fuel.

You're above the curve.

Not by much. Listen, guys, l wanna work it again.