All Smiles to Start With: Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise is relaxed and ready as he and fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert prepare for launch on April 11, 1970, from the Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A. The planned third U.S. manned landing on the Moon became a fight for survival two days later when the spacecraft was crippled by an oxygen tank explosion. Thanks to some quick minds in Houston’s Mission Control, the flight did come to a successful conclusion on April 17, 1970.
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Truly one of the great pioneers!