In the 20th century, two superpowers - the USSR and the USA - joined the unprecedented race to conquer space. An important point then was the question of who was the first to land on the moon. The Americans are ahead of us. In July 1969, the Apollo 11 crew - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin - left their footprints on the moon, and in November 1969 - Apollo 12 - Charles Conrad and Alan Bean. Apollo 13 (or A-13) is the third US spacecraft to land on the moon. The apparatus itself (50 tons in weight!) Is the engine compartment, the crew compartment of the Odyssey and the lunar module "Aquarius" ("Aquarius"). Crew: Commander James Lovell (second flight to the moon), command module pilot John Swigert and lunar module pilot Fred Hayes are space recruits.
We are not superstitious
The third lunar expedition had enough reasons for superstition. First, the ship itself. This has never happened in the history of manned astronautics - the device had an "unlucky" serial number. Secondly, the launch time is April 11, 1970, 13:13.
The commander's wife. Marilyn, asked her husband:
- Jim, why are you flying the Thirteenth?
He only shrugged in response:
- Because the Twelfth flew before.
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The crew took the ship number very lightly. Making fun of the supporters of mysticism and teasing fate, the astronauts broke the mirror shortly before the start. And under the lunar module, standing on the floor of the assembly building, a black cat was allowed in. Someone suggested that the crew choose this animal as the emblem of the flight. The response was not long in coming.
Houston, we have a problem
The central engine shut off 132 seconds early at start. The four remaining ones worked 34 seconds longer - it's good that the fuel supply was solid, and the Saturn-5 launch vehicle easily coped with it.
Then the flight went steadily. The launch vehicle launched a third stage into orbit, inside which the entire Apollo complex was located. The first tier was the "spider" of the lunar module, then - the adapter, on top of which was the engine compartment cylinder with the main engine socket, and the entire structure was crowned with the cone of the crew compartment. Thus, the spacecraft entered space "in parts". This was done so that in the event of an accident the emergency rescue system could instantly "pull" the cone up and to the side in order to save the lives of astronauts. In addition, if the lunar compartment had originally stood "in its place" (attached to the crew compartment), then the rocket would have a thickening at the very top, the ship's streamlining would have decreased, its speed would have decreased and the amount of fuel required to enter orbit would have increased … Therefore, already in space, it was necessary to "complete" the ship,and this is almost a jewelry procedure. With a pin tens of centimeters in diameter, you need to get into a small area, after which the objects are pulled together, with an effort of several tons, for sealing. If the docking fails, landing on the moon is impossible, and the flight itself loses its meaning.
Pilot Swigert took over. The movement began towards the lunar module - a small one, similar to a spider due to four landing legs.
- Come on, newcomer, - the commander encouraged his colleague. - Park properly.
The docking pin is inserted into the receptacle and the latches are engaged. Order! Selena is ahead. But … "Thirteenth" was out of luck.
The most serious accident in the history of manned astronautics took place on April 13 (!). The crew finished the TV session and discussed the possibility of taking pictures of Bennett's comet. Distance from the Earth - 330 thousand kilometers, from the Moon - 91 thousand. At 22.08 a powerful clap was heard, and Commander Lovell exclaimed:
- Hey, we have a problem!
For two seconds, telemetry from the ship disappeared and an emergency indication of a voltage drop on the power bus appeared. Initially, the severity of the situation on Earth and on board was not appreciated. And then…
Hayes heard the "ringing and bending sound of metal." James and Fred rushed to close the hatch to the lunar module, thinking that it had been struck by a meteorite, but the hatch cover did not "suck in": the Aquarius was safe and sound. Lovell glanced through the porthole and went cold: the ship was accompanied by a swarm of small metal shards, randomly rotating. From the engine compartment, some kind of muslin flowed in a wavering haze and a jet of liquid or gas beat for many meters, twisting into fantastic spirals in the light of the Sun.
“Houston,” the commander called the Control Center. - The skin is damaged and something is leaking into space. Most likely oxygen.
Oxygen was part of the fuel cells (on the Apollo, these devices were instead of solar panels), it was not intended for breathing. The crew did not face immediate death. Until. But two of the three fuel cells went out of order, the power industry ordered to live long. It grew colder in the Odyssey. The astronauts went into the lunar module, designed for two (two went to the moon, the third was waiting in a circumlunar orbit). I had to forget about the landing on Selena. Now there was only one task: to return home alive.
You've been here before, but we haven't
"A-13" continued to move away from the Earth. A spacecraft is not a car, you can't turn it around right away - it follows within the chosen orbit. It was dangerous to turn on the main engine - perhaps it was damaged in an accident and could explode. To return, you need to go around the moon and very accurately turn on the engine of the lunar module in order to get into the Earth's gravitational field. However, the Moon still needs to be reached.
And the Apollo was racing, spinning unpredictably due to the consequences of the explosion.
The three of us in "Aquarius" were cramped. They saved energy, and ate food freshly frozen. We slept in turns, in fits and starts. But they did not lose their presence of mind. For example, when Apollo was orbiting the Moon (only 250 kilometers!), Fred and Jack frantically filmed billion-year-old craters. Lovell casually voiced a hidden thought:
“If we can't go to Earth, nobody will develop your film.
Hayes glanced at the commander with a slight smile.
Relax, Jim. You have already been here, but we have not.
On April 15, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Alexei Kosygin appealed to US President Richard Nixon with an offer to help rescue the astronauts. Here the USSR simply made a gesture of goodwill, because then there was no real opportunity to help the astronauts. Compatible docking stations will appear only in five years, and the triple Soyuz, if it got to the wounded "American" lost in space, would only be in unmanned mode. And no one taught the brave astronauts how to control the Soviet spacecraft.
However, the Aquarius did not disappoint, and a timid hope of return dawned on the starship pilots.
On the same day, they made a correction of the flight trajectory to water the ship in the Pacific Ocean. However, it also needed additional adjustment, otherwise Apollo could fly at a distance of 165 kilometers from the Earth and enter its orbit with a distance of several hundred thousand kilometers. And while the ship would again approach the Earth, the astronauts would die.
For the fourth time, the crew used an engine designed for one activation and three times less mass of the object. Happened! And then…
In "Aquarius" the content of carbon dioxide began to grow - the absorbers could not cope, they had to provide the vital activity of two people for three days, and not three people for four days. The astronauts developed severe headaches. In order not to suffocate, I had to come up with something. Engineers on Earth built a "homemade product" and urgently sent the astronauts detailed instructions over the radio:
- Hello, Aquarius. You will need documentation covers, duct tape, plastic bags, and spacesuit hoses.
An hour later, the improvised carbon dioxide scavengers turned on, driving death away.
This happiness is the way home
Near the Earth itself, "A-13" was divided into parts (as expected), the astronauts saw that there was no whole skin section in the engine compartment (!), The equipment was distorted. For four days the astronauts were on the verge of death, but with their own eyes everything looked even more tragic. Before landing, the question loomed: was the heat shield of the crew compartment damaged? Then - all efforts and sacrifices are in vain. A final look at the "spider" of "Aquarius":
- Thank you, boat.
While the Odyssey cone was in the ionized plasma cloud, there was no communication with it for six minutes. And then - a reward for all who worried about the astronauts and worked for them on Earth - Swigert's triumphant cry:
- Ok, here we are !!!
When the scuba divers of the rescue service opened the hatch in the cone swaying on the waves, a cloud of frosty air swept over them. Three emaciated, unshaven people looked at the rescuers.
It turns out that the cause of the accident was the unsatisfactory design of the switches of the tank heater block, where the liquid oxygen for the fuel cells was located. The red price of the switch is a few dollars, yet it ruined a flight program worth more than one billion.
… None of these astronauts flew into space anymore. Lovell retired after three years. Swaygert tried himself in politics, but did not have time - he died after an oncological operation. Hayes was named shuttle commander but left NASA two years before the shuttle's first flight.
Vladimir Grakov. Secrets of the XX century magazine
