Nine Leap Frogs

 

April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 launched with Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise aboard. Their original mission was to make the third manned landing on the moon. Jim and Fred were set to become the fifth and sixth men to walk on the moon. But just two days into the flight, an oxygen tank exploded. Instead of the planned lunar landing, both the crew and the ground control team spent the several days scrambling through a hair-raising rescue mission. The crew had to cut their water rations to one/fifth. They endured high carbon monoxide levels and temperatures just above freezing. But they did make it home alive. Once, after a speaking engagement about his ordeal, Jim Lovell was asked if he would chose to go on another space flight. He was about to answer yes when he saw a hand shoot up from the audience and give a “thumbs down” motion. It was his wife, Marilyn.