Space Mission
Apollo 13, April 17, 1970
Photographer
NASA
Photo Description
Vintage chromogenic print on fibre-based Kodak paper; 10 x 8 red-numbered NASA photo (AS13-70-35651); Reverse bears “A Kodak Paper” watermarks and purple NASA caption text.
Essay
Astronaut John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot, is lifted aboard a helicopter in a “Billy Pugh” net while astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., commander, awaits his turn. Astronaut Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot, is already aboard the helicopter. In the life raft with Lovell, and in the water are several U.S. Navy underwater demolition team swimmers, who assisted in the recovery operations. The crew was taken to the USS Iwo Jima (LPH 2), prime recovery ship, several minutes after the Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down at 12:07:44 p.m.