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0:00·it really is a great honor to present my
0:01·next get our first guest tonight I
0:03·suppose the word
0:05·hero sounds corny at times but I don't
0:07·think you have Heroes anymore and maybe
0:09·uh some but the youngsters need Heroes
0:11·nowadays and they probably get tired of
0:12·that word they would consider themselves
0:14·I suppose
0:15·professional test pilots uh and which
0:18·say
0:18·all right a tremendous skill but there's
0:21·just been over a month since uh their
0:23·great courage and skill under
0:24·tremendously adverse conditions uh
0:27·made them uh Heroes of the entire world
0:30·would you please welcome the Apollo 13
0:31·team James Lovell Fred Hayes and Jack
0:34·Swaggart I don't know
0:39·[Music]
0:44·[Applause]
1:08·[Music]
1:10·foreign
1:14·[Music]
1:21·[Music]
1:36·since I've been doing this show in seven
1:39·and a half years that I've seen an
1:40·entire studio audience uh get to their
1:43·feet and applaud and uh you've received
1:46·a lot of that since you've come back
1:48·it must be an emotional type of thing I
1:51·mentioned you fellas I use the word
1:52·Heroes which I said you I know you've
1:54·said it before in interviews that you
1:55·don't consider yourself for that at all
1:56·Captain right
1:57·well as a matter of fact uh we didn't
1:59·know just how the world was taking it
2:01·until we actually got back on the ground
2:03·that's right you're really the last
2:05·you're always trying to find out about
2:07·it
2:08·you know I never thought of it that way
2:09·it was uh after meeting all the people
2:12·and uh
2:13·and appreciating the uh
2:15·the feeling and the emotion that they
2:18·had I sort of feel like maybe I missed
2:20·something being up there
2:22·we missed all the excitement you know
2:24·yeah
2:26·were you were you kind of amazed at the
2:28·outpouring of emotion from countries all
2:30·over the world not just the United
2:31·States but I can't remember a time when
2:33·there's been a circumstance where
2:35·somebody has been in in that kind of uh
2:38·of a situation where the entire world uh
2:40·and foreign countries and and the the
2:42·even the Communist Bloc in all of the
2:44·countries of the world seem to to join
2:46·together for a moment a real little maze
2:48·at that reaction he got back yes I think
2:50·this is what uh really struck us that uh
2:53·for perhaps just an instant maybe the
2:56·whole world was together
2:57·it's funny they seem to get together on
2:59·things like science don't they they were
3:01·in a common in a common crises we all
3:04·seem to join hands we sure do just like
3:06·one human being helping another
3:08·you're you're Captain right now uh Jim
3:10·yes Johnny and uh Fred you're uh Thomas
3:13·you're civilian and Jack also civilian I
3:16·was sort of outnumbered uh being in the
3:18·military yes captain in the Navy right I
3:21·was a I was an innocent in the Navy
3:26·you know what being an engine in the
3:28·Navy it's like being a hood ornament on
3:29·an Edsel
3:30·yeah
3:32·there's not much call for that
3:35·you had a busy day today haven't you
3:37·what's what's been happening since
3:38·you've been in New York
3:39·well we had lunch with mayor Lindsay
3:41·today it was very nice
3:43·and we had a press conference uh
3:48·and your show tonight followed by a play
3:51·you're gonna see a play and then there's
3:53·another I think a reception later on
3:54·tonight because
3:55·the mayor also is or not and he told me
3:58·that your car was double parked down
4:00·below and the police towed it away
4:03·our mayor would throw away your capsule
4:05·if it landed in New York
4:09·[Applause]
4:15·you probably uh been asked every
4:18·question in the book on what they call a
4:20·debriefing and David Brinkley wants that
4:22·on television he never understood the
4:24·term debriefing he says why not a
4:26·briefing when you got back what's what's
4:27·the difference between a briefing and a
4:28·debriefing
4:30·anybody any fellas you would ask us
4:33·those techniques
4:35·France is English major well I wanted
4:38·debriefing I think the briefing would
4:41·constitute the preparation and the
4:43·training we go through getting ready to
4:45·fly the flight and debriefing is where
4:48·we we give our comments on how each
4:51·phase worked and how we felt maybe our
4:54·training was deficient and what we
4:56·should do better the next time what was
4:58·the greatest thrill when you got back
4:59·outside I suppose talking to your wives
5:00·Jack is a is a bachelor and talking to
5:04·the president well on board the ship
5:06·they had a little Communications link up
5:08·with us we had three phones and it was
5:10·sort of a one-sided conversation all
5:12·three of us were talking at one time and
5:14·Fred and I were talking to our wives and
5:16·Jack was talking to the entire
5:18·Continental airline stewardess Corps
5:20·[Music]
5:23·Jack has flown before hasn't he
5:27·I thought I was going to get by without
5:29·Jim making some comment about that but
5:31·he didn't last time we really set it up
5:32·for me in Chicago he said that a a
5:34·bachelor is like a new detergent that's
5:37·uh one that works fast and leaves no
5:39·rings
5:44·what are you doing about 11 30 every
5:46·night
5:49·we have an opening on a staff gym if you
5:51·can come up with this stuff you can come
5:53·up with this stuff every night you know
5:54·you probably get tired of that don't you
5:55·jack because uh you're one of the few
5:57·bachelors in the whole program I guess
5:59·of NASA right yes and that they you'll
6:02·always have to have something to say now
6:03·they can talk about your kids and your
6:05·wife and so forth but I remember you
6:07·because you went in through with three
6:08·days notice on this slide right yes and
6:11·uh they weren't prepared for that and it
6:13·drove the newsmen crazy because they
6:15·weren't quite prepared to report on Jack
6:17·swankert and they ran around I saw them
6:18·interviewing your landlord
6:21·you know and the landlord says yes he's
6:23·a his nice place here he lives right
6:25·here
6:28·laughs
6:30·at the time that this happened
6:32·um
6:33·when you first knew that you had the
6:35·trouble that something was wrong who's
6:36·the first to know you were the first one
6:37·I think the radio back to Mission
6:39·Control in Houston right no actually it
6:40·was Jack Jack was the man who said uh I
6:43·think we have a problem here
6:46·so I guess I guess turned out to be the
6:49·understatement of the century I guess
6:50·you know the funny thing we were going
6:52·to get a recording uh from NASA of that
6:55·particular time when it happened
6:56·thinking it would be very exciting you
6:58·know and intense but the strange thing
7:00·about it is we we listened to it
7:02·and it sounded like you had reported
7:04·that the uh you know you didn't get your
7:06·dime back from the pay phone or
7:07·something it was it wasn't exciting at
7:09·all in the context and the way you
7:11·handle it is that is that because of the
7:12·tremendous training and you're ready for
7:15·this kind of a contingency and you just
7:17·automatically react and then the
7:19·emotions come a little bit later
7:21·well I think that actually we didn't
7:23·know really how serious the situation
7:24·was at the time and uh as it started to
7:27·get more serious our voices got a little
7:29·bit more tense if you listen to the
7:31·tapes closely it took about 45 minutes
7:34·for I guess the problem to develop in
7:36·its fullest
7:38·can you remember back this is probably
7:39·terribly difficult with all the things
7:41·that you have to do and with shutting
7:43·down one system and been doing all the
7:45·technical things you have to do
7:47·but can you remember in your mind what
7:49·your was there fear at the time I
7:52·suppose there was thinking that this
7:54·possibly could be a fatal uh
7:57·thing that could happen and you would
7:58·could be possibly stranded or that the
8:01·whole the unit would would explode or
8:03·something is that moment of uh
8:05·of saying good happens this this is it
8:07·the percentages have caught up
8:10·well I guess everybody kind of you know
8:11·faces that situation where they say uh
8:13·gee any place but here anybody but me
8:16·and uh but there's only one thing to do
8:18·in a situation like that as we talked
8:20·about it that is you have to just keep
8:22·charging forward and uh you know do
8:24·everything possible to get back home
8:25·again and I suppose everybody go ahead
8:27·Ben yeah there's another Point too uh we
8:30·have uh backups for everything and we
8:32·were we were never in a position
8:34·to where we didn't at least have one
8:36·more direction to go in this case the
8:38·limb so
8:40·if I charge them the limb and turned it
8:42·on and found something wrong there then
8:44·I would have maybe got a lot more
8:46·concerned that could have been the ball
8:47·game right there huh
8:48·yeah that's that's fascinating I think
8:50·it was Alan Shepard once who said they
8:52·asked him how he felt when they made the
8:54·first flight and he said it was a
8:55·strange feeling traveling around the
8:57·Earth in a vehicle
8:58·in which you know every part was made by
9:00·the lowest bidder
9:04·I don't know
9:08·affect me trigger's your joke there
9:12·you fellas didn't have any of this uh on
9:14·the drip you know the saying too soon
9:16·too old too late do you agree Edward
9:19·well a lot of people know you're never
9:22·too old to smarten up about some things
9:24·for example I know that if you want to
9:27·stay on the young side you should
9:29·exercise and you should eat sensibly one
9:31·way is by starting the day with a good
9:33·breakfast like Kellogg's Product 19.
9:37·it's the cereal with 100 percent of the
9:40·minimum daily adult requirements for
9:42·vitamins and iron a Powerhouse and
9:45·delicious so get back on the young side
9:49·start right now with Kellogg's Product
9:51·like knee
9:56·we're talking with the uh Apollo 13
9:58·astronauts Jim you lost what 14 pounds
10:00·on us 14.
10:03·was that because the food is getting
10:04·worse or getting better well the food
10:07·was is getting better but we followed
10:09·your instructions on your show a few
10:10·months ago and uh we didn't know how to
10:12·eat it they sent us some food from uh
10:16·when they had the mock-up upstairs here
10:17·in in the studio made H I guess and one
10:19·night we tried it you said your wife uh
10:21·my wife saw it she's here tonight uh yes
10:24·where where's your wife sitting would
10:26·you like to meet Mrs where were you Mrs
10:27·lava because I've seen you on magazines
10:30·how are you right
10:45·yeah I guess what's that Winston
10:46·Churchill said they also serve who also
10:48·only stand and wait that's must be very
10:50·very tough on wives and children uh to
10:54·wait for you but the food yeah we had it
10:56·one night and we didn't do it right or
10:57·something we were putting you said a
10:59·moment ago watering the things we
11:00·shouldn't have put water in
11:03·I don't think we should ever go on a
11:06·trip Ed they haven't made they have not
11:09·made the booster yet they can get you
11:14·since I've lost all this weight are you
11:15·still doing these heavy jokes about I
11:17·don't know if nothing else
11:19·uh I was asking Jim during the
11:21·commercial break here when the next uh
11:22·is this this is delayed somewhat the
11:25·next uh projected flight has enough yes
11:27·uh it was originally scheduled sometime
11:30·in October and now probably the earliest
11:31·weekend launches in December
11:33·have they as of yet determined what went
11:37·wrong with any degree of certainty that
11:40·I know that you blew out what
11:41·practically the whole side panel of the
11:42·main booster right and they thought it
11:44·was what in a battery uh well we lost of
11:47·course uh all of our electrical power
11:49·the three fuel cells and the two oxygen
11:51·tanks and I'll refer to my Command
11:53·Module expert to give you yeah Jack what
11:55·do you think there which means that he
11:56·can't quite technically get the answer
11:58·to this
12:02·that's what's known as the commander
12:05·passing the buck uh no the uh
12:08·the the problem laying the number two
12:10·oxygen tank and uh we know that it was a
12:13·right now a short uh in the wiring I
12:17·don't think that uh that they have quite
12:19·uh
12:21·completely identified it out to be
12:23·truthful I've been gone from the review
12:26·board and I haven't followed their uh
12:28·the progress of the review board so I
12:30·haven't got the latest uh information on
12:34·what exactly happened and since you did
12:35·have the jettison that part
12:38·um they don't really have any tangible
12:40·evidence to lay their hands on do they
12:42·just kind of have to go by what could
12:44·have happened and then get rid of the
12:45·Alternatives I suppose well it's amazing
12:47·what they can do with just Telemetry we
12:49·jettison of course the part that went
12:51·wrong right but all the readouts that
12:53·the ground had gotten from Telemetry in
12:55·the communications during the incident
12:57·and after uh plus their analysis allowed
13:00·themselves to analyze the situation and
13:03·come up with the answer
13:05·was there any time that you thought that
13:07·the backup system that you possibly
13:11·it seems like a dumb question and I
13:13·don't mean it morbidly but it crosses
13:15·people's minds that you know you've
13:17·probably seen the motion picture that
13:18·made maroon where they were stranded
13:21·that does that ever crossed your mind at
13:22·any time when you go on one of these
13:24·these flights and you've got more time
13:25·uh in space than anybody else Jim that's
13:28·saying what would I do in fact if this
13:32·did happen I mean the possibility I
13:34·guess always exists in any dangerous
13:36·thing a human error mechanical air is
13:38·there uh even with the greatest
13:40·expertise that what would you do
13:44·if you couldn't get back I know that
13:45·sounds like an insipid question but I'm
13:48·sure that you must have thought about it
13:50·philosophically some someplace well I
13:52·think everybody in in the program has
13:54·that thought that feeling we of course
13:57·look at it from the fact that we make
14:00·things so reliable and so redundant that
14:02·it's only a remote possibility and
14:05·really we just put it out of our minds
14:06·we have to otherwise we'd never make a
14:08·flight you could never really function
14:09·could you as a Professional Engineers
14:12·under those circumstances
14:13·I was wondering if it was planned
14:15·beforehand that if something like this
14:17·went wrong was the lamb supposed to be
14:18·used as this way was that planned in the
14:21·program or is that a surprise thing that
14:23·just developed because you had no other
14:24·choice let me let Fred answer that he's
14:26·our limb expert
14:29·they had had some procedures uh way back
14:32·in the back room somewhere where a long
14:35·time ago someone had envisioned using
14:37·the lamb as a Lifeboat they were pretty
14:40·dusty
14:41·the only thing we had planned to use the
14:43·land for in that regard was we had a
14:45·procedure written in case the main
14:48·engine on the Command Module failed
14:50·burning in the lunar orbit part way
14:53·you then would Scurry into the limb and
14:55·fire it up and use this engine to get
14:57·you headed back home
14:59·and uh I bet they've done an update on
15:01·that haven't they on how to use that
15:03·again but we never really envisioned
15:05·powering down the Command Module we
15:07·always had the Command Module electrical
15:10·system and oxygen system as a life
15:13·support system one of the great problems
15:15·was the was the cold wasn't it it got
15:17·down to what 38 38 degrees 38 degrees
15:20·and one of you of course had to stay up
15:23·at all times to monitor the and do the
15:26·readouts I suppose on the systems we
15:28·have a short piece of film here I think
15:30·you did this on the way back right
15:32·after all this problem still not really
15:35·even knowing I guess to whether you got
15:37·into the right window as they say to
15:38·re-enter so watch the monitor here in
15:40·the studio and gentlemen if he'll tell
15:43·us what the you're doing it at the time
15:45·uh Bobby you want to roll the tape
15:47·please here we are
15:50·what you're looking at now is the
15:51·Command Module it's down to about 38
15:53·degrees uh very cold and it's completely
15:56·dead nothing's working and you just saw
15:58·the hash that was oh that's up through
16:00·the tunnel as they say that's right
16:01·right into the through the tunnel and
16:02·back into uh the Aquarius the lunar
16:05·module and
16:06·Jack the interesting thing is that when
16:08·you're right side up in the Command
16:09·Module and you come down the tunnel
16:11·you're upside down in the limbs so it
16:12·takes a while to to get reoriented
16:15·do you have any sense of direction uh
16:20·here at all whether you're upside down
16:21·or not since there's no Direction really
16:23·such in space is there only visual uh
16:26·you have no balance of course isn't your
16:28·weight loss I mean up or down is
16:31·relative right there's our little tape
16:33·recorder which we played the theme from
16:34·2001.
16:38·after all of this trouble you got you
16:40·listen to a radio show
16:42·and Jack's asleep back there near the
16:45·hatch he was trying to get a little shut
16:47·eye at the time
16:48·the thing about our photography is we
16:50·had to take it just when the light came
16:51·around because we didn't want to use any
16:52·interior lights because it'd use power
16:54·oh I see so we had to shut down
16:56·everything that wasn't necessary to save
16:58·power are you turning at this time yes
17:00·we are turning and there's Fred with his
17:02·hand in his uh shirt there uh going
17:05·sound asleep trying to get a little
17:06·shutout keeps your hands from floating
17:08·floating up bother you when you're
17:09·sleeping I never thought of that
17:13·there's a gym or is that yeah we had
17:15·just one person who had the watch he
17:17·wore the Hat with the communications and
17:19·the rest of people were I know you're
17:21·having dinner there yep there's Jack
17:22·eating right now and it's amazing we can
17:24·actually use a spoon and in zero gravity
17:27·if there's enough viscosity in the fluid
17:31·I think this is uh right prior to entry
17:34·uh Jim and I were going up or uh through
17:36·the entry procedures they required a lot
17:39·of close cooperation with Jim and the
17:40·lamb and myself in the Command Module
17:42·you see Jim uh rubbing his hands there
17:45·and that's because it was just that cool
17:49·of course there was a time just before
17:51·this last mid-course or the mid course
17:53·105 hours when we would still have
17:55·missed the Earth and so we had to make
17:56·this particular maneuver uh to make sure
17:59·we got captured by the atmosphere right
18:01·otherwise we'd have skipped off into uh
18:03·into space again that's what they call
18:05·about the re-entry angle that has to be
18:06·so precise that you don't enter too fast
18:08·then you don't enter too shallow that
18:10·you as you say skip back into
18:13·right skip away from the orbit
18:17·actually these pictures were taken with
18:19·a wide angle lens that Fred held most
18:21·the time and makes the interior of
18:24·Aquarius a lot roomier than it actually
18:26·is
18:28·it was sort of uh you know people get
18:30·the impression when you see this on
18:31·television that it's rather roomy and
18:33·yet it's really not at all is it
18:35·there's an advantage of zero g I shot my
18:38·own pictures just by turning the camera
18:39·and moving it away while it was still
18:41·running
18:46·what we're doing here we're trying to
18:47·still everything you know we couldn't uh
18:49·we couldn't dump anything over overboard
18:51·which presented a problem for three days
18:52·as you might think so we had a stow it
18:55·in all kinds of containers
18:57·and the waste products got to be quite
18:59·deep there after a while
19:03·I guess we've become space litter bugs
19:05·already haven't we by she has
19:18·to the average person who really is so
19:21·hard for us to relate to that do you
19:23·ever get tired of The Thrill Is it a
19:25·tremendous tremendous thrill when you
19:27·another dumb question I suppose when you
19:29·get out and you look back and you see
19:31·the Earth
19:32·uh just hanging there it must give you
19:35·some some strange feelings I think it
19:38·does make all the astronauts that are
19:42·flowing a bit philosophical
19:43·I would think so you kind of got to
19:45·think back and kind of puts it in
19:47·perspective doesn't it you put the whole
19:49·earth just in the in your hand you know
19:50·and it really makes it uh it makes you
19:52·wonder actually a minor planet is
19:54·somebody once said
19:56·um now you haven't been on the moon
19:58·and uh and yet this was really a
20:01·triumphant uh space journey because it
20:03·proved that the backup system does work
20:05·and prove that the equipment is reliable
20:07·are you going to fly again
20:10·well I would like to uh I seem to be
20:12·disappointed you know going twice to the
20:14·moon and not quite getting down there
20:15·however uh down at Houston there are a
20:17·lot of people who are well qualified and
20:19·who have not yet flown and so uh my wife
20:22·won't let me just
20:24·well I suppose she may have a slight
20:28·Reasoner not wanting to go through that
20:29·again Fred how about you
20:31·but I think the probably the true
20:34·statement would be that every every guy
20:36·in the office would like to fly every
20:38·flight
20:39·that's really impossible because for
20:42·instance while we were training two
20:43·other Crews were training same time 14
20:45·and 15.
20:46·and that's really not possible I
20:49·certainly would personally like to have
20:51·another chance Jack what are your
20:54·feelings that's my feelings too I
20:55·suppose all the fellas would like it to
20:57·have that unique honor it everything
21:00·came about in my case so fast that I
21:04·really you know I was sitting there
21:06·right on the launch pad and about 30
21:08·minutes prior to launch when they
21:10·hauled back the swing arm I told Jim I
21:12·said you know I really think they're
21:14·serious about launching me
21:17·I was trying to think of a question
21:19·today that you might not have been asked
21:21·and it's it's pretty tough
21:23·and this may sound dumb
21:26·suppose and people have said this they
21:28·know pretty well technically what the
21:30·moon was and what it was composed of and
21:33·that there was no
21:35·the gravity was 1 6 and there's no air
21:37·and so forth and so on
21:39·but supposed to have been some people
21:40·have said well possibly maybe they're
21:42·people or civilizations had you know
21:45·you've heard this right and have arrived
21:47·there maybe many many years ago and live
21:49·say underground right with their own
21:52·type of gravity and oxygen supply and so
21:54·forth is there anything in the NASA
21:56·program that would prepare you
21:58·if you landed on the moon
22:01·right this sounds like it's not a dumb
22:04·question and all of a sudden you look
22:05·over and you see two
22:07·people
22:09·fellas coming out of a
22:13·do they prepare you for that what you
22:15·would say
22:16·uh or how you deal with this at all well
22:19·that doesn't sound strange there's still
22:20·a lot of people who believe that there
22:21·are people on the moon but they're
22:22·living underground I think Jim's going
22:24·to say that's why they took a bachelor
22:25·law that's why
22:29·[Applause]
22:39·and answered your question about getting
22:41·philosophical uh we did get a bit
22:43·philosophical and we we brought you
22:46·something tonight that we thought maybe
22:47·you'd like to Oh Yeah from our crew here
22:50·we know that uh you were a magician at
22:52·one time and still are as a matter of
22:54·fact I saw some of your card tricks and
22:56·so we thought we'd present this little
22:57·picture to you with the caption perhaps
22:59·you'd like to read
23:00·oh it's not great
23:02·it says I'll read it then I'll show you
23:04·the picture so she has a beautiful
23:06·picture it says to the great carsoni you
23:08·found that out huh
23:10·do you think you're a magician try
23:12·making this disappear since your best
23:14·wishes the Apollo 13 crew and they've
23:15·all signed it and of course look at that
23:17·magnificent shot of the Earth from space
23:21·[Applause]
23:33·California
23:35·I will treasure that very very much and
23:37·I thank you gentlemen I know you've had
23:39·a long day you know you'll have more
23:41·plans for this evening and all I can say
23:44·that you you've been hearing many many
23:45·times it's it's great to have you back
23:48·it was a magnificent magnificent feat
23:51·and I think the whole entire world was
23:53·tremendously proud of you and it's a
23:54·great thrill to have you here tonight
23:56·Jim pleasure thank you thank you
23:58·[Music]
23:59·[Applause]
24:01·[Music]
24:02·[Applause]
24:04·[Music]
24:04·[Applause]

1 posted on 08/11/2025 2:52:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: SunkenCiv

that was terrific


6 posted on 08/11/2025 3:20:51 PM PDT by God luvs America
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To: SunkenCiv

I was at Glacier National Park at the time. I remember seeing a headline on a Newspaper still on display. It was not until the movie came out that I realized everything that happened.


9 posted on 08/11/2025 3:39:02 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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To: SunkenCiv

The DC Daily News had a big, bold headline:
APOLLO 13 OFF COURSE!


10 posted on 08/11/2025 4:10:26 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: SunkenCiv

In before the fake moon landing moon bats. 🦇


12 posted on 08/11/2025 4:24:06 PM PDT by Hyman Roth
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