Remaining Apollo 13 Astronauts Spoke Together at Dallas Love Field About Their Space Flight

By THC Staff | May 24, 2017

 

In April 1970, John Swigert, Fred Haise, and James Lovell embarked on a mission to reach the moon. Apollo 13 was expected to mark NASA’s third moon landing, but an explosion on board of the spacecraft had Mission Control and the astronauts on board shift their focus to circling around the moon and returning home for a landing in the Pacific Ocean. Even though they didn’t land on the moon, the trip was deemed a success because the crew was brought back alive and everyone learned valuable information.

Sadly, Swigert passed away from bone cancer in the early ’80s, but his fellow astronauts on Apollo 13, Haise and Lovell, are still living and talking about their historic space flight. WBAP reports that the two astronauts shared their experience at the Frontiers of Flight Museum Gala Thursday night at Dallas Love Field.

At the fundraiser, Haise said they underestimated the extent of how difficult their trip back to earth would be. He stated, “We lost one oxygen tank, we had a second one which for a little bit didn’t appear to be leaking. I thought we would just abort.” They weren’t able to use their abort engines and had to endure freezing temperatures to save power.

According to the Frontiers of Flight Facebook page, the gala successfully raised money for their “mission to provide education in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and History of Aviation and Space Flight.”