On April 11, 1970, Astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert climbed aboard the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM) (aka “Odyssey”) and launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Two days into the flight, on April 13th, Apollo 13 was aborted after an oxygen tank ruptured on the way to the Moon.

Later deemed a “successful failure” because of experience gained in rescuing the crew, Apollo 13 became a landmark example of how teams can work together to achieve success under tremendous pressure.

Fun fact: the Cosmosphere’s SpaceWorks division worked on the restoration of the Apollo 13 Odyssey spacecraft, and also built historically-authentic spacecraft and mission control replicas for Ron Howard’s classic movie “Apollo 13” starring Tom Hanks. When asked about the film, Howard stated that it’s one of his favorites: “Every time I see it on TV, I have to watch it all the way to the end. It’s such a great story.”

The Cosmosphere is proud to display the authentic, flown Apollo 13 Odyssey spacecraft, along with the actual spacesuit worn by Commander Jim Lovell during the voyage. This suit was the A7L-version of the Apollo LEVA (lunar extravehicular activity) space suit, and was the first to incorporate red stripes to identify the mission commander...a practice still in use today. (Photo: Cosmosphere)