Apollo 13 crew splashes down safely in Pacific Ocean after successful emergency rescue

On April 17, 1970, at 18:07:41 UTC, Apollo 13's Command Module Odyssey successfully splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of American Samoa, completing a miraculous 142-hour flight. For four days following the deep-space explosion, astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise endured freezing temperatures near 38°F (3°C), severe dehydration, and elevated carbon dioxide levels inside the cramped Lunar Module Aquarius. Ground teams, supported by grounded astronaut Ken Mattingly working in simulators, developed an improvised power-up sequence and built a custom adapter using duct tape and plastic bags to allow square carbon dioxide scrubbers to fit into round slots.

Hours before re-entering Earth's atmosphere, the crew performed critical separation procedures. They first jettisoned the damaged Service Module, photographing the missing outer panel and destroyed interior components for post-flight investigation. Shortly afterward, the crew bade farewell to their lunar lifeboat, jettisoning Aquarius, which burned up harmlessly over the open Pacific. Swigert then executed the critical power-up sequence inside Odyssey using the carefully conserved entry batteries.

Odyssey reentered the atmosphere at a velocity exceeding 24,000 miles per hour. A tense radio blackout during reentry lasted four minutes and 24 seconds—longer than anticipated due to the shallow entry flight path angle. Relief swept through Mission Control and around the world when Odyssey's three main parachutes opened successfully. The spacecraft landed within four nautical miles of the primary recovery vessel, the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, where the exhausted crew members were recovered safely.