The Saturn V Rocket was beautiful.
It was by far the most remarkable and intricate piece of machinery I had ever seen. It was over 40 stories high and the sun reflected off the metal making it seem like a dream. The top half of the Saturn V was the most important because it was home to the Command Module, Service Module, and Lunar Module. The Command Module was nicknamed ‘Odyssey’ and was where the crew was to stay during their journey to and from the moon. It looked like a cone, but with a flat top. The Service Module housed the liquid oxygen tanks. It was a cylinder with a The Lunar Module was nicknamed ‘Aquarius’ and it was the piece that would actually land on the moon’s surface. It was like a box but surrounded with bars going every which way and it reminded me of a spider. 
The crew was exceptional with James Lovell as the commander, Fred Haise as the Lunar Module pilot and John Swigert as the Command Module pilot. Swigert was originally a member of the backup crew, but two days before launch he was switched in because Ken Mattingly had been exposed to the measles. There was already some unease about the flight because Apollo 13 was the first NASA mission that didn’t skip that number because of superstitions. This didn’t concern the crew seeing as the Apollo 11 and 12 missions were such victories. Since the 11 and 12 missions were so successful, space travel was now seen as normal and as a result, few people came to the launch and fewer networks broadcasted it. The astronauts still boarded the ship with such bravado you’d think the whole world was watching. I watched from the control centre as the Saturn V rocket took off at 13:13, not giving a damn about those superstitious people because I was too busy watching the most outstanding thing I’d ever seen.
It was two days into the flight and everything seemed to be going well. My friend and co-worker, John Aaron, had just finished his shift. I was new to the team of electrical, environmental and consumables managers, or EECOMs, and it was an honour to work alongside him. John was a genius, there was no doubt about it; he was the one that came up with the idea that fixed the power surge when Apollo 12 was struck by lightning. As an EECOM, I was in control of monitoring fuel cells, electrical, cooling, pressure and lighting systems. I quickly greeted him and resumed his place. The crew had just finished their broadcast from space showing how they worked and lived. None of the networks aired it. Not a single one. The control centre was relatively calm with the usual sounds of chattering men, pencils scribbling and keyboards clicking. Rows of computers and operated by lanky, half-balding men with thick glasses and headsets. Every single person had their cup of coffee in front of them and the ever-present smell of a few cigarettes was calming because the stronger the smell got, the more stressed mission control was.
I noticed a slight drop in the pressure of one of the liquid oxygen tanks and instructed Swigert to turn on the heat to stir up the tanks. The liquid oxygen tanks supplied water, electricity and breathable oxygen, so they were crucial to the mission and survival of the crew. There were two tanks, but the second tank was the backup tank just in case the first failed.
On April 13, 1970, 54 hours into the flight, we received a message. 
“Houston, we have a problem here.”
It was almost as if you could feel everyone’s heart stop and resume, beating faster than ever; immediately I looked at my computer screen and saw the pressure of the first oxygen tank at zero and the pressure of the second oxygen tank dropping fast. I couldn’t process what was happening and I called Gene Kranz, the flight director, over to look at the tanks stats. The tanks were our only source of power and the numbers meant the worst was happening- complete service failure. I didn’t even understand how this could come to be; how could both oxygen tanks fail when the crew was 200,000 miles away from earth.
We received another message, “We are venting something out into the... into space.”
Our CAPCOM replied, “Roger, we copy you venting.”
“It's a gas of some sort,” Lovell reported, confirming our worst fears.
Gene leaned over my shoulder to peer at my screen. “Damn it,” he swore under his breath and turned to face everyone while they waited in silence for instruction with wide eyes, “Call every single person in. The backup crew, Mattingly, every EECOM, TELMU, BOOSTER, FDO, GNC, RETRO, every damn person- call them all in.”
This sent the control room into a frenzy and I wasted no time calling John and the other two EECOMS in. Not even 15 minutes later, several dishevelled people were stumbling into the room, buttons half-done, hair sticking up, glasses crooked and wrinkled pants. A cup of coffee was shoved into their hands and they were updated on the situation. Gene filled in John and everyone filled into one of the side rooms to figure out what to do because the original mission was forgotten and the new mission was getting them back alive. I was told to watch their stats and report any new information.
The smell of cigarettes increased by ten-fold.
There was a massive debate on whether to fire the engines and get them back as quickly as possible or take the longer way, but no one knew what really happened to the Service module and whether or not it could handle the propulsion system. An hour after the accident and with 15 minutes left of electricity we decided to move the crew into Aquarius and shut down both Odyssey and the service module to save power. Aquarius was only meant for two people with enough food for a day and a half. Instead, it had to hold three people for five days. The crew had to ration everything to the smallest portions and temperatures got to freezing levels. The next concern was the build up of CO2 in Aquarius, a team of engineers devised a way to attach Odyssey’s canisters to Aquarius’ system by using plastic bags, cardboard and to tape all materials carried on board.
Throughout the events, Gene was the calmest of us all. Everyone in the control room was hopeful that the crew would make it back.
Everyone except Gene.
Gene was determined they would make it back. He was the backbone of the mission and every time he walked by I stood up a little straighter because Gene Kranz was the epitome of confidence. While the whole room was fidgeting, he was eerily still and while everyone was chain smoking, he smoked at the same rate he did when the crew took off and before the incident.
By this time, the whole world knew about the disastrous turn the Apollo 13 Mission had taken. Numerous countries offered their support. It was all anyone talked about and the public was thirsty for updates about the state of the crew. Sixteen hours before landing, the crew went back into Odyssey, which had gotten so cold, the systems were covered in frost.
Finally, it was time for the crew of 13 to land. Odyssey separated from Aquarius and the Service Module. They could finally get a look at the service module and reported an entire panel had been blown off its side. There were concerns about the damage to the heat shield and if it would hold up against the while passing through the atmosphere. Even if the heat shield held up, the parachutes would have to work as well or the crew would be hitting the water at a deadly speed instead of a gentle 20mph. As they passed through the atmosphere there would be a radio blackout. Using calculations from Apollo 11 and 12, the blackout was predicted to be three minutes and ten seconds long. So the people in the control room waited in silence and at three minutes and eleven seconds our CAPCOM spoke up, “Odyssey, this is Houston, do you read?”
  Nothing.
We waited.
Three minutes and forty-five seconds.
“Odyssey, this is Houston, do you read?”
Nothing.
Four minutes and fifteen seconds.
“Odyssey, this is Houston, do you read?”
Radio static.
Garbled speech.
I heard a sharp intake of breath from half the room.
“Odyssey, this is Houston, do you read?”
“Hello Houston, this is Odyssey, good to see you,” Lovell’s voice filled the room as we saw the parachutes go up and Odyssey land in the water from the massive screen that was footage from the land site.
It was if time stopped and then resumed at three times the speed.
We did it.
Gene opened the doors to the control room and every single person that was somewhat involved in the process of Apollo 13. Everyone was cheering and congratulating Gene who humbly accepted their praise.
Apollo 13 was seen as a successful failure because the crew returned safely, but never made it to the moon. 

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