Apollo 13 carried astronauts around the Moon in 1970 after an oxygen-tank explosion forced an emergency return.
Apollo 13 launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, with James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise aboard. The mission was intended to land in the Fra Mauro region of the Moon, but an oxygen-tank explosion damaged the service module two days after launch.
The crew used the lunar module Aquarius as a lifeboat while mission controllers in Houston developed procedures to conserve power, water, and breathable air. Apollo 13 flew around the far side of the Moon and returned to Earth, splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970.
The mission is often called a “successful failure” because it did not achieve its planned lunar landing but demonstrated extraordinary teamwork and problem-solving. Apollo 13 is sometimes confused with Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, or Apollo 11, the first crewed lunar landing.