Unit 2: text 2

Apollo 13
On 11 April 1970, James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise put on their space suits, sat in
Apollo 13 and said goodbye to Earth. The plan was to walk on the moon, do a number of
biological experiments and take photos.
But while they were travelling, something went wrong – really wrong. There was an
explosion on Apollo 13, which destroyed important equipment. Lovell contacted Earth and
said the famous line, ‘Houston, we have a problem.’
Apollo 13 started losing oxygen, electricity and water. Back on Earth the NASA engineers told
Lovell, Swigert and Haise what to do and the astronauts built important pieces of equipment
using just their hands. With only a little oxygen left, it was a race against time. Finally, while
the world was watching on TV, they returned home from space and landed safely in the
ocean.
The story was later made into a film, Apollo 13.