Photo sequence of the jettisoned damaged Service Module drifting through deep space toward the lost Moon, 11-17 April 1970

Four vintage gelatin silver prints on fiber-based paper, printed 1970, numbered "NASA AS13-59-8519", "NASA AS13-59-8528", "NASA AS13-59-8533", and "NASA AS13-59-8546" (NASA MSC) in black in top margin, each 25,4x 20,3 cm, (4)

These very rare unreleased photographs from the unfortunate journey of Apollo 13 were taken from the lifeboat LM Aquarius following the jettison of the damaged Service Module prior to Earth reentry.

The Service Module had been due to take them back to Earth but an entire panel had been blown away by the explosion of an oxygen tank on the way to the Moon.

“Four hours before landing, we shed the Service module; Mission Control had insisted on retaining it until then because everyone feared what the cold of space might do to the unsheltered CM heat shield. I’m glad we weren’t able to see the SM earlier. With one whole panel missing, and wreckage hanging out, it was a sorry mess as it drifted away.”
James Lovell (NASA SP-350, p. 13.5).

From the mission transcript when the photographs were taken:
138:06:50 Lovell: All right. She’s drifting right down in front of our windows now, Houston.
138:06:55 Kerwin (Mission Control): Okay.
138:08:12 Haise: Okay, Joe, I’m now looking down the SPS bell, and it looks—looks okay on the inside; maybe it is just a streak.
138:08:19 Joe Kerwin: Okay. Copy that, Fred. Was the bell deformed on the outside or just nicked or what?
138:08:33 Jim Lovell: I think the explosion, from what I could see, Joe, had—had stained it. I don’t know whether it did any actual deformation or not.
138:08:41 Kerwin: Okay.
138:09:09: Haise: Man, that’s unbelievable!