What happened after the Apollo 13 mission?

Only Apollo 13 failed to make a lunar landing when an accident en route to the Moon forced the crew to abandon the mission and return to Earth after reaching lunar orbit. The last flight, Apollo 17, occurred in December 1972.

Why did they have to stir the oxygen tanks?

Oxygen from these tanks was used not only for the astronauts to breathe, but to help run three fuel cells that provided electrical power to run the command ship’s many systems. Inside each oxygen tank was a thermostat which, along with a heater, was used to regulate the temperature inside the tank.

How did Apollo 13 change history?

(Since their trajectory had a higher lunar altitude than other Apollo missions, Apollo 13 set the record for farthest flight from Earth of 401,056 km [249,205 miles].) Soon afterward the spacecraft started along its return path home.

What happened to the oxygen tank after Apollo 13?

In the wake of Apollo 13, engineers redesigned the oxygen tanks to prevent similar accidents. Also, a third oxygen tank was added to the service module, as an additional backup. Eight more Apollo spacecraft flew and none of them experienced the same trouble again.

Why did Apollo 13 fail to land on the Moon?

Due to an oversight in replacing an underrated component during a design modification, this turned out to severely damage the internal heating elements of the tank. Apollo 13 was to be the third lunar landing attempt, but the mission was aborted after rupture of service module oxygen tank.

What happened to the Apollo 13 service module?

The picture above shows the Apollo 13 Service Module after it was released from the Command Module and set adrift in space about 4 hours before re-entry of the CM into the Earth’s atmosphere.

What was the Cryo-stir of the Apollo 14 mission?

56 hours into the mission, at about 03:06 UT on 14 April 1970 (10:06 PM, April 13 EST), the power fans were turned on within the tank for the third “cryo-stir” of the mission, a procedure to stir the oxygen slush inside the tank which would tend to stratify.