Wondering about wild grapes

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Wondering About Apollo 13.

On this day back in 1970, these famous words were spoken by the Apollo 13 crew, "Houton,we have a problem".  This mission to the moon was launched on April eleventh and was on its way there on seventeenth when an oxygen tank blew up and severely damaged the craft.  There was no alternative but to continue to the moon, go around it, and try to return to earth.  This was a very serious event and it sent mission control into a frenzy, but they finally worked out a way to bring the crippled craft safely back home.  It was not easy, but they managed to pull it off.  I would say that mission control were the real heroes in this emergency.  But the capsule's occupants, Lovel, Swigert, and Haise played a sugnificant part and also were heroes.

I sure remember that event and I wonder how many of you who were old enough to also remember it?  Let me know.  Now, I hope you all have a great day here on Earth, you hear?




15 comments:

  1. I remember those words, but not the event. The one i DO remember is,,, one day at work, my son had been home sick, and called me,,,the space craft exploded!!! He had been watching it.

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  2. PS: you still on your tablet? I just ran malwarebytes, and it had 161 things to take off!

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    1. Yes, I am still on the tablet. Are you saying my tablet is infected and you get the malware from me?

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  3. I vaguely remember that... but it was the Challenger in 1986 that I remember so vividly and watched in horror. And July, 1969... my son's 7th birthday... Neil Armstrong on the moon. In 1957 I remember watching Sputnik orbit the earth... watched it blinking as it passed over our back yard. Now... why can't I remember what I went to the grocery store for?

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    1. I remember my first son was so very young and my Dad was holding him as we were watching the moon landing. Now we just send robots and un-manned craft out into space. Kind of takes the thrill out of it. And my skort term memory got up and went . . .

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  4. I remember it well ... and oh, Sharon... yes! the Challenger! I was watching it on TV and just bawled.... I saw the explosion and even with my limited knowledge that ... that just wasn't right.

    Our generation has seem some stuff... sure have... oh, memory schmemory ... I'm beginning to play games with m'self... I can't even remember what I was reminding me to not forget while I'm trying to write it down!

    I'm not kidding... pathetic

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    1. I understand what you mean about forgetting what I was just about to write down. Like my old Mom used to say, "Getting old ain't for sissies".

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  5. Yes, I remember Apollo 13, it was launched on my birthday. It was Apollo 11 that I remembered the most however. Maybe that was because I read "Of a Fire on the Moon" by Norman Mailer. He won a Pulitzer for two other books that he wrote but not this one which I thought was his very best.
    As a reviewer on Amazon says: If you read one book about the Apollo moon landings....this is the one.

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  6. I remember it, the horrible fear, the drama, hoping, believing a way would be found to bring them home. I remember the pride when they did make it home alive and the relief. I was a kid.

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    1. I was a young man when sputnik was launched, which means you are a lot younger than I am.

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