“Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”, “Failure is not an Option”, “NASA’s finest hour.” These are the phrases now associated with “The Successful Failure” mission Apollo 13. For the past 5-6 days, we have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of this mission. I can’t do justice to the mission by writing a 500-word article. Therefore, this article lists numerous resources released on the occasion of #Apollo50. Go, dig yourself into them.

Apollo in Real Time

Data Visualisation Engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ben Fiest created the website https://apolloinrealtime.org/. The site is entirely made from the historical mission material. Currently, there are three missions available, Apollo 11, 13 and 17. You can hear the conversations between the CAPCOM and astronauts while a screen occasionally shows footage from the spacecraft and the mission control room. It is as close as you can get to the real-time Apollo Mission Control Room.

Apollo 13 (Movie)

The 1995 critically acclaimed movie is one of the best space movies made till now. Though there are some discrepancies with the actual stuff which happened, it is a true marvel.

Available on Netflix in India.

13 Minutes to The Moon

If you are podcasts person, this BBC documentary series is perfect for you. 13 Minutes to The Moon features two seasons. Season one is about the first lunar landing Apollo 11, and the second one talks about the near failure Apollo 13. To top it off the theme music is given by Hans Zimmer.

Credits: BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xttx2

‘Apollo 13: Home Safe’

NASA released the documentary featuring interviews of Astronauts Lovell Haise and Flight Directors Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney, and engineer Hank Rotter, in the restored Apollo mission control room. The film was released on NASA TV and is an exciting watch to see while sitting safely at your homes during this quarantine.

NASA’s Ask Me Anything

NASA conducted an AMA on subreddit r/space. You can see the answers to various questions which you also may have on this link:

The Apollo 13 Flight Journal

This flight journal is another historical archive containing interviews, transcripts, images and many more in a journal form. For readers who like to read rather than listen, this may be a good alternative for Apollo in Real-Time.

https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap13fj/index.html

Apollo 13 Views of the Moon

Astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and John Swigert never could land on the moon, but they were able to watch the moon from a close distance. NASA’s Goddard Space Center recently recreated some of the views that Apollo 13 astronauts saw of the moon. They used data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft and created this film in 4K.

Houston, We have a Podcast

A series started by NASA’s Johnson Space Center from Houston in 2017, this features more than 140 episodes on various NASA missions. The latest episode on Apollo 13 has interviews with the Apollo 13 astronauts conducted just a few days before the release.

For more interested space nerds, here are some more links:

If you find some other new resources let me know and I’ll add them here.