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Lot 332
[Apollo 13] CRITICAL UNDOCKING OF LM AQUARIUS FROM CSM ODYSSEY WITH EARTH REFLECTED IN THE LM WINDOW Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970
14 – 28 April 2025, 12:00 CEST
Paris, Avenue Hoche€400 - €600
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[Apollo 13] CRITICAL UNDOCKING OF LM AQUARIUS FROM CSM ODYSSEY WITH EARTH REFLECTED IN THE LM WINDOW
Jack Swigert or Fred Haise, 11-17 April 1970
Printed 1970.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS13-59-8553].
Numbered "NASA AS13-59-8553" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A slice of Earth reflected in Aquarius' window during its critical undocking. This haunting image captures the final moments of LM Aquarius, the lifeboat that saved the Apollo 13 crew, as it was undocked just over 11,000 nautical miles from Earth, roughly an hour before splashdown. A faint reflection of Earth—their long-awaited home—appears in the docking window of the LM, while RCS thrusters are visible in the Centre of the frame, and a footpad can be seen on the left.
Due to the unprecedented mission crisis, re-entry procedures had to be completely rewritten on the fly. Unlike previous Apollo missions, the Service Module (SM) was jettisoned first, exposing the full extent of the damage from the explosion. Only then was the frozen Command Module Odyssey powered up, before the final jettisoning of LM Aquarius—the fragile spacecraft that had sustained them through their perilous journey.
Printed 1970.
Vintage gelatin silver print on fibre-based paper [NASA image AS13-59-8553].
Numbered "NASA AS13-59-8553" in black in the top margin (issued by NASA Manned Spacecraft Centre, Houston, Texas).
20.3 x 25.4 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Historical context
A slice of Earth reflected in Aquarius' window during its critical undocking. This haunting image captures the final moments of LM Aquarius, the lifeboat that saved the Apollo 13 crew, as it was undocked just over 11,000 nautical miles from Earth, roughly an hour before splashdown. A faint reflection of Earth—their long-awaited home—appears in the docking window of the LM, while RCS thrusters are visible in the Centre of the frame, and a footpad can be seen on the left.
Due to the unprecedented mission crisis, re-entry procedures had to be completely rewritten on the fly. Unlike previous Apollo missions, the Service Module (SM) was jettisoned first, exposing the full extent of the damage from the explosion. Only then was the frozen Command Module Odyssey powered up, before the final jettisoning of LM Aquarius—the fragile spacecraft that had sustained them through their perilous journey.
Footnotes
James Lovell reflected on the moment:
"A most remarkable achievement of Mission Control was quickly developing procedures for powering up the CM after its long cold sleep. They wrote the documents for this innovation in three days, instead of the usual three months. We found the CM a cold, clammy tin can when we started to power up. The walls, ceiling, floor, wire harnesses, and panels were all covered with droplets of water. We suspected conditions were the same behind the panels. The chances of short circuits caused us apprehension, to say the least. But thanks to the safeguards built into the Command Module after the disastrous fire in January 1967, no arcing took place. The droplets furnished one sensation as we decelerated in the atmosphere: it rained inside the CM."
—James Lovell (NASA SP-350, p. 262)
From the mission transcript at the moment of LM jettison:
141:17:49 Joe Kerwin (Mission Control): Odyssey, Houston. We just had a formal GO for LM JETT at your convenience. Over.
141:26:38 Swigert: Okay, Houston. We'll punch off at 141 plus 30.
141:28:42 Kerwin: You are GO for PYRO ARM.
141:29:56 Lovell: Five. LM jettison.
Watch more
CLICK HERE: HISTORIC NASA FILM APOLLO 13 "HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM» 34062