Catching up with the heroes of Apollo 13

INTERACTIVE Apollo Image Gallery Apollo Space Suit Virtual Apollo The Space Race MESSAGE BOARD Apollo 13 anniversary MORE ON APOLLO XIII Review: 'Failure Is Not an Option,' by Gene Kranz Excerpt: 'Failure Is Not An Option' TRANSCRIPT Online chat with Gene Kranz   James Lovell, then and now

By Richard Stenger
CNN Interactive Writer

April 10, 2000
Web posted at: 5:19 p.m. EST (2119 GMT)

(CNN) -- The Apollo 13 astronauts set their sights on the moon as they roared into the sky on April 11, 1970. But the trio had another goal when an oxygen tank exploded 200,000 miles later: staying alive.

The world listened as Houston mission control scrambled to come up with a rescue plan, and waited as the astronauts coaxed the crippled spacecraft around the moon and back to Earth.

The gripping tale of survival immortalized the Apollo 13 astronauts and the chief mission controller who directed their safe return. Yet all four distinguished themselves long after the mission, remembered as NASA's most "successful failure."

James Lovell

After retiring from the space program in 1973, the Apollo 13 commander served as an executive for several communications companies.

More recently he co-authored "Lost Moon," a chronicle of the Apollo 13 adventure that director Ron Howard turned into a top-grossing Hollywood film.

In January, Lovell went to Antarctica as a member of a scientific expedition searching for meteorites that could offer evidence of past life on Mars. Team members found about 20 meteorite fragments and are studying them for signs of organic compounds or fossils.

Fred Haise, then and now

Fred Haise

The lunar module pilot for the Apollo 13 mission, Haise went on to fly the space shuttle prototype Enterprise. He resigned after a 20-year career with NASA in 1979 to become vice-president of Grumman Aerospace Co.

He recently retired as president of Northrop Grumman Technical Services, but continues as a motivational speaker, earning as much as $10,000 an appearance.

Jack Swigert Jr.

Swigert took the slot as Apollo 13 command module pilot 24 hours before launch because the primary crewmember was exposed to German measles.

Jack Swigert Jr.

From 1973 to 1977, Swigert served as executive director of the committee on science and technology in the U.S. House of Representatives.

After losing a bid for the U.S. Senate from Colorado in 1978, he became an executive with a professional services corporation and then an international mining company.

In 1982, he won an election for a new U.S. congressional district in Colorado, but died of complications from cancer a week before he would have taken his seat.

Gene Kranz

NASA's chief flight director for more than 30 years, Kranz led the mission control team in Houston that brought the Apollo 13 crew back to Earth.

He directed other historic space flights as well, including the Apollo 11 moon landing and a space shuttle mission that repaired the Hubble space telescope. And he took part in the Skylab program.

Kranz retired from NASA in 1997 and now works as a consultant and motivational speaker. "Failure is not an option," the motto that galvanized him and mission control during the Apollo 13 disaster, is a primary topic of his presentations. He commands up to $20,000 per speech.

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