On April 11, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13 from Kennedy Space Center, intending to land astronauts on the Moon. The mission’s crew included James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise. Early in the flight, the spacecraft appeared to be operating normally. The mission was the third planned lunar landing in the Apollo program. Public attention at first was lower than for earlier Moon landings. That changed dramatically when a serious accident occurred two days later.
