--- ---  # See a 1970 Explanation of What Happened to Apollo 13  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  The April 27, 1970, cover of TIME The April 27, 1970, cover of TIMECover Credit: CBS NEWS  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2015 2:00 PM UTC Forty-five years ago, on April 11, 1970, when Apollo 13 was launched into space, manned missions to the moon were just starting to seem like something that the U.S. had a handle on. The space race had been won. There had been no recent disasters. The technology had already been proven. Discussions of NASA missions were as likely to involve budget bickering as they were grand dreams of exploration. So what happened to Apollo 13 was, TIME noted a few weeks later, when the astronauts on board had safely returned to earth after their calamitous journey, a reminder of the ever-present danger and bravery involved in space flight. The mission, with its ruptured oxygen tank and aborted attempt to land on the moon, was also a reminder of just how complicated the science behind such flights can be. _To see TIME’s 1970 illustration explaining how the astronauts made it home safely, roll over the diagram (or, on mobile, click) to zoom:_ [](https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/apollo.jpg)TIME In order to explain that science, TIME took readers from Commander Jim Lovell’s “understatement of the space age” (“I believe we’ve had a problem here,” he told the ground controllers in Houston), to the loss of oxygen and electricity in the spacecraft, to the decision to use the moon’s gravity to send the ship home: --- > “” --- Still, not everything about Apollo 13 was complicated. The feeling of gratitude that swept the nation when, on April 17, the crew splashed down safely, was strong but simple. “James Lovell added his own benediction when the astronauts first set foot on land en route home,” TIME noted. “Welcomed by gaily-dressed Samoans on Pago-Pago, Lovell said: ‘We do not realize what we have on earth until we leave it.'” **_See the full 1970 report on Apollo 13, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Apollo’s Return](http://time.com/vault/issue/1970-04-27/page/16/) ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images Apollo 13: How 1970 Americans Understood the Disaster ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3770544/apollo-13-diagrams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3770544/apollo-13-diagrams/"},"headline":"See a 1970 Explanation of What Happened to Apollo 13","datePublished":"2015-04-11T14:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:43.401Z","description":"The ill-fated lunar journey lifted off on April 11, 1970","url":"https://time.com/3770544/apollo-13-diagrams/","keywords":["Space","NASA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe578fad665315b/698786902dce01cc399de5cc/1101700427_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe578fad665315b/698786902dce01cc399de5cc/1101700427_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Astronauts Lovell, Haise & Swigert","caption":"Astronauts Lovell, Haise & Swigert","creditText":"Cover Credit: CBS NEWS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3770544/apollo-13-diagrams/","name":"See a 1970 Explanation of What Happened to Apollo 13"}}]}] ```