Lot No. 157


J. Swigert, F. Haise or J. Lovell (Apollo 13)


"Houston, we've had a problem": the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module after the oxygen tank explosion, 11-17 April 1970

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1970, numbered NASA S70-35703"(NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso, 25,4 x 20,3 cm

This photograph was exposed with the 16 mm camera equipped with the 250 mm telephoto lens lens after jettison of the Service Module prior to Earth reentry showing the damage which happened to the module at about T+055:55:20 after launch as it was docked to the spacecraft on the way to the Moon already 178,000 nautical miles from home.
James Lovell and Fred Haise had just entered the LM Aquarius to check it over and sent a TV transmission to Earth when the crew heard a loud explosion and realized that the spacecraft was venting gas into space.
The Service Module had been due to take them back to Earth but this view from the lifeboat LM Aquarius docked to the Command Module Odyssey reveals that an entire panel had been blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank.
From then on Apollo 13 became the most carefully watched mission of the programme. For a tense four days, no one knew if the crew would make it back safely.

From the mission transcript just after the explosion of the damaged Service Module on the way to the Moon:
055:55:19 Swigert: Okay, Houston...
055:55:19 Lovell: ...Houston...
055:55:20 Swigert: I believe we’ve had a problem here. [Pause.]
055:55:28 Lousma (Mission Control): This is Houston. Say again, please.
055:55:35 Lovell: Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a Main B Bus Undervolt.
055:55:42 Lousma: Roger. Main B Undervolt. [Long pause.]
055:55:58 Lousma: Okay, stand by, 13. We’re looking at it.
055:56:10 Haise: Okay. Right now, Houston, the voltage is - is looking good. And we had a pretty large bang associated with the Caution and Warning there. And as I recall, Main B was the one that had had an amp spike on it once before. [...]
056:09:07 Lovell: It looks to me, looking out the hatch, that we are venting something. We are venting something out into the - into space.
056:09:22 Lousma (Mission Control): Roger. We copy your venting.
056:09:29 Lovell: It’s a gas of some sort.

Literature:
Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., chapter 13.2, pg. 252.

Specialist: Mag. Eva Königseder Mag. Eva Königseder
+43-1-515 60-421

eva.koenigseder@dorotheum.at

27.09.2023 - 16:43

Realized price: **
EUR 650.-
Estimate:
EUR 800.- to EUR 1,200.-
Starting bid:
EUR 100.-

J. Swigert, F. Haise or J. Lovell (Apollo 13)


"Houston, we've had a problem": the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module after the oxygen tank explosion, 11-17 April 1970

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based paper, printed 1970, numbered NASA S70-35703"(NASA MSC) in red in top margin, with "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on verso, 25,4 x 20,3 cm

This photograph was exposed with the 16 mm camera equipped with the 250 mm telephoto lens lens after jettison of the Service Module prior to Earth reentry showing the damage which happened to the module at about T+055:55:20 after launch as it was docked to the spacecraft on the way to the Moon already 178,000 nautical miles from home.
James Lovell and Fred Haise had just entered the LM Aquarius to check it over and sent a TV transmission to Earth when the crew heard a loud explosion and realized that the spacecraft was venting gas into space.
The Service Module had been due to take them back to Earth but this view from the lifeboat LM Aquarius docked to the Command Module Odyssey reveals that an entire panel had been blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank.
From then on Apollo 13 became the most carefully watched mission of the programme. For a tense four days, no one knew if the crew would make it back safely.

From the mission transcript just after the explosion of the damaged Service Module on the way to the Moon:
055:55:19 Swigert: Okay, Houston...
055:55:19 Lovell: ...Houston...
055:55:20 Swigert: I believe we’ve had a problem here. [Pause.]
055:55:28 Lousma (Mission Control): This is Houston. Say again, please.
055:55:35 Lovell: Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a Main B Bus Undervolt.
055:55:42 Lousma: Roger. Main B Undervolt. [Long pause.]
055:55:58 Lousma: Okay, stand by, 13. We’re looking at it.
055:56:10 Haise: Okay. Right now, Houston, the voltage is - is looking good. And we had a pretty large bang associated with the Caution and Warning there. And as I recall, Main B was the one that had had an amp spike on it once before. [...]
056:09:07 Lovell: It looks to me, looking out the hatch, that we are venting something. We are venting something out into the - into space.
056:09:22 Lousma (Mission Control): Roger. We copy your venting.
056:09:29 Lovell: It’s a gas of some sort.

Literature:
Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (NASA SP-350), Cortright, ed., chapter 13.2, pg. 252.

Specialist: Mag. Eva Königseder Mag. Eva Königseder
+43-1-515 60-421

eva.koenigseder@dorotheum.at


Buyers hotline Mon.-Fri.: 10.00am - 5.00pm
kundendienst@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 200
Auction: The Beauty of Space - Iconic Photographs of Early NASA Missions
Auction type: Online auction
Date: 27.09.2023 - 16:43
Location: Wien | Palais Dorotheum
Exhibition: Online


** Purchase price incl. buyer's premium and VAT

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