How Ingenuity Saved the Apollo 13 Crew
Against all odds and without ever having simulated such a situation, the team had to rely on ingenuity.
After the explosion, they had to move to the landing module, using it as a lifeboat. For the next days, they had to face a series of unfortunate events such as lack of energy, stress, sleep deprivation, freezing temperatures, and water rationing.
Besides that, they had a problem removing carbon dioxide. The square lithium hydroxide canisters were not compatible with the round openings in the landing module system. To solve this problem, mission control had to be quick and creative. Using duct tape and other materials, they built an apparatus that the crew could copy.
Mission control did not rest until they found a way to safely bring the spacecraft back to the Earth. They used the Aquarius decent engine to place the ship on a return path, passing behind the moon. The service module, damaged by the explosion, was removed. On April 17, the capsule reentered Earth’s atmosphere, and the astronauts landed safely in the Pacific Ocean.