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At approximately 54 hours after the April 11th liftoff of Apollo 13 the mission stopped being routine. It was early evening at Houston Control and the Apollo astronauts were settling down for the evening. They had just completed a video transmission showing off their "home" for potential viewers back home.
As part of a standard procedure the astronauts were instructed to stir their oxygen tank. The purpose is to keep the liquid therein from becoming stratified. This is something that was done on every mission.
The following is a quote by James Lovell from "The Greatest Adventure".
"Jack Swigert took over watch duties in Odyssey while Fred Haise and I drifted through the tunnel to inspect Aquarius. We were on our way back to Odyssey when we heard the explosion.
The short, muffled blast echoed through the spacecraft. The spacecraft rocked for a few brief seconds...then settled down and quiet prevailed again. I could tell by Fred's expression that he didn't know what had happened. A quick glance over to Jack told me the same. Jack's eyes were as wide as saucers, and he was probably asking himself 'Why am I here?'.
A red light flashed on our warning panel: low voltage on Main B electrical bus. Then two more lights blinked on: two of our three fuel cells had just died --- our major source of electrical energy. One fuel cell would take us around the moon and back home, but without all three operating, our mission rules prevented a lunar landing. Endless months of training, my second flight to the moon, and now I can't land?!
I scanned gauges that monitored our oxygen tanks behind us in the service module: one read zero, and I could actually see the needle going down in the second one!"
Houston Control is immediately aware of the situation and evaluating options. They are in constant communication with the astronauts via voice link. There is some initial debate as to whether the sensors are lying or the ship is dying.
