All of the images on this page were generated by the HoloSuite operator, ScottE, using a camcorder and a Snappy III video capture device. You may use the images for non-commercial purposes, provided that credit for the source of the images is included with their use.
To comment on the page e-mail me .
Mission Control in Houston loses all contact with the Command Module Odyssey as it enters the upper atmosphere. This happens with every Apollo mission as the heat of the reentering capsule causes the surrounding atmosphere to ionize. The radio silence lingers on as the seconds turn into minutes.
The capsule does survive reentry and is soon seen hanging from its three chutes and descending to the ocean below. Odyssey splashes down into the Pacific Ocean just over a mile from the USS Iwo Jima at 13:08 Friday, April 17th. The flight lasted 142 hours, 54 minutes, and 41 seconds.
Mission Control celebrates the succesful recovery of the Odyssey and its crew. It will take extensive analysis of the events leading up to the accident to determine a cause. For now, everybody is simply overjoyed that the Apollo astronauts have made it back home.
When the cause is determined, it turns out to be a sequence of human errors reaching back nearly five years to the beginning of the spacecraft development. An Oxygen tank thermostat had been respecified to be required to handle a higher voltage during some tests, but the change had never been made. The underspecified component was present in all Apollo spacecraft prior to the Odyssey, but became critical on this flight due to another human error. A problem in draining a tank after a test fill resulted in a use of a tank heater to boil off the excess oxygen. The heater was used for 8 hours. The underspecified thermostat could not take the long duration overvoltage and the contacts became welded shut. The power to the heater was monitored, but there was no monitoring of the tank temperature. Subsequent laboratory tests have confirmed that this defect would result in internal tank temperatures of up to 1000F. It is believed internal wiring insulation was compromised, which set the stage for Apollo 13's dramatic events.