LS moon as seen from capsule
11 ft


MCU computer inside capsule
18 ft


MS ice outside craft window
22 ft


MS (3 shots) astronauts in spaceship
40 ft



Initials LG/NR



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Background: The Apollo 13 astronauts cruised quietly and smoothly toward the moon on Sunday (12 April), passing the halfway point in their outbound mission before sharpening their aim with a short blast of the spaceship's rocket. The rocket was fired after Apollo 13 had travelled 139,000 miles since it launch.

The astronauts used a colour television camera to show what happened during the rocket burn. The computer set off the space-craft's main rocket which aimed the ship to go into a lunar orbit with a low altitude of 69 miles. To dramatize the burn for the TV audience, the astronauts tied a pencil on a string to show the change in acceleration. When the rocket fired, the pencil swung backwards. They also dumped waste water from the spacecraft's fuel cells. The water turned into ice crystal that seemed to dance in space. The astronauts also aimed their camera at the moon which appeared as a white crescent in the black of space.