13 APRIL 1970
Apollo 13 faces catastrophe
The lives of three astronauts hang in the balance during their ill-fated lunar mission
The Apollo 13 command module is retrieved from the Pacific after the near-catastrophic mission ended with three Nasa astronauts returning safely to Earth
Almost 56 hours into their planned journey to the moon aboard Apollo 13, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert heard a loud bang throughout the spacecraft. Swigert then radioed the now-infamous words back to Earth: “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”