Fred Haise was Apollo 13’s lunar module pilot during the mission’s emergency return to Earth.
Haise flew with commander Jim Lovell and command module pilot Jack Swigert. Apollo 13 launched on 11 April 1970, but an oxygen-tank explosion crippled the service module roughly two days later, preventing the planned lunar landing.
The crew used the lunar module Aquarius as a lifeboat. Haise and Lovell operated its systems while Swigert managed the command module Odyssey. The spacecraft looped around the Moon and returned safely, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on 17 April 1970.
Haise is sometimes confused with Swigert because both had key technical responsibilities during the crisis. Swigert was the command module pilot; Haise was the lunar module pilot. Haise later commanded the first Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests in the atmospheric test vehicle Enterprise.