Wednesday, April 21, 2010

SSC commemorates Apollo 13 mission

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 flight with exhibits and remembrances from Biloxi native Fred Haise Jr., who served as lunar module pilot on the mission. During an afternoon of activities, Stennis hosted employees and area senior citizens to tour Apollo 13 exhibits, take photos with Haise, collect NASA-related items and offer their own remembrances of the mission. Apollo 13 launched April 11, 1970 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Two days into the flight, the command module spacecraft was crippled by an oxygen tank explosion, forcing a free-trajectory return to Earth. The astronauts were forced to power down the command module and use the lunar module as a space "lifeboat." (Source: NASA, 04/21/10)