Jun 27

Space Rocket History #260 – Apollo 13 – Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert

John Leonard Swigert Jr. aka Jack Swigert was born on August 30, 1931 in Denver, Colorado to parents John Leonard Sr. and Virginia Swigert.

Jack Swigert Apollo 13 CMP

Swigert on his fur chair

Astronaut Jack Swigert poses with model of the LM

Jun 20

Space Rocket History #259 – Apollo 13 – Introduction – Part 2

Just before the mission began things started to go wrong. The weekend before launch Charlie Duke, the backup lunar module pilot, came down with a case of German measles.

The original crew of Apollo 13

Apollo 13 backup crew

Apollo 13 actual crew, Lovell, Swigert, Haise

Jun 13

Space Rocket History #258 – Apollo 13 – Introduction – Part 1

Targeted for touchdown on the third lunar landing was a place known as the Fra Mauro range, a stretch of rugged, Appalachian-type mounds 110 miles east of the Apollo 12 landing site.

Apollo 13 Mission Patch

The planned destination of Apollo 13, Fra Mauro

Apollo 13 insignia

Jun 06

Space Rocket History #257 – Apollo 12 – Return, Re-entry and Splashdown

Ten days ago, their Saturn V rocket had blasted Bean and his crew mates out of earth’s gravitational pull. Now their home planet was pulling them back at more than 24,000 miles per hour, twelve times faster than a high-speed rifle bullet. “Boy,” said Bean, “we are really hauling!”

Apollo 12 splashdown

Apollo 12 recovery

Apollo 12 mobile quarantine