40 years ago : "Houston, we have a problem".

[Massive Lee]

40 years ago, Appolo 13, one its way to the moon, got hit by meteorites and was loosing oxygen quickly when a tank rupture. The mision was scrapped and the astronauts had to come back home. Preferably alive.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2010/04/10/13537526-cp.html

[Rustyduktape]

really dude?

[Kershaw]

nice. :)

[Farbin Kaiber]

Awesome, I love it when Canadians give US History lessons, thank you for your knowledge and insight.

[Jand3rson]

One of my ALL-TIME favorite movies.

And is the shit about it being US history really necessary? The whole word watched as those 3 men hurtled through space not knowing if they would ever come home again.

[e30sd]

um the cause of the failure was due to 28 volt switches and 65 volt thermostats installed in the cryogenic oxygen tanks. due to an install accident, the vent tube on one of the tanks was knocked out of alignment. instead of replacing the tank, engineers boiled off the remaining oxygen after a pre-launch pad test. the o2 burned away but since the over voltage had caused the thermostat to fuse shut, allowing the temps in the tank to reach over 1200 c which effectively burned away all the teflon insulation on the tank wiring.

then at 55 hrs into the mission when they intitiated a cryo tank stir, a spark arced from the bare wiring, causing the o2 tank to rupture and crippling the csm. had nothing to do with meteorites.

i used to be a space geek.

[Jand3rson]

I was gonna say... "Meteorites? You're thinking of Pitch Black, bud".

[Farbin Kaiber]

And is the shit about it being US history really necessary?

No, I just want to always let Lee know how much I value his insight and wisdom.

[gasgasrider]

Any space geek would know the real quote is "Houston, we've had a problem" not the often misquoted "Houston we have a problem".

[Farbin Kaiber]

Any space geek would know the real quote is "Houston, we've had a problem" not the often misquoted "Houston we have a problem".

Forgive our wise friend and OP, English is not his first language.

[LBJefferies]

LOL Lee you doofus, Apollo 13 didn't get hit by meteorites. I've seen the movie enough time to know that it was a faulty oxygen tank setup.

[Huff]

Meteorites? Really? Meteorites? You think a spaceship the size of a phone both attached to another spaceship the size of 2 phone both could survive a meteorite strike!?

um the cause of the failure was due to 28 volt switches and 65 volt thermostats installed in the cryogenic oxygen tanks. due to an install accident, the vent tube on one of the tanks was knocked out of alignment. instead of replacing the tank, engineers boiled off the remaining oxygen after a pre-launch pad test. the o2 burned away but since the over voltage had caused the thermostat to fuse shut, allowing the temps in the tank to reach over 1200 c which effectively burned away all the teflon insulation on the tank wiring.

then at 55 hrs into the mission when they intitiated a cryo tank stir, a spark arced from the bare wiring, causing the o2 tank to rupture and crippling the csm. had nothing to do with meteorites.

i used to be a space geek.

EXACTLY what he said.. Glad people are at least remembering the mission (however incorrectly remembered).

[Raxe]

The point is that it was exactly 40 years ago to this day.

[Massive Lee]

The point is that it was exactly 40 years ago to this day.

Yup. And it seems not many remembered ;-). It is also a bit worst than getting stranded by the highway with a leaking fuel pump.

"Meteorites? Really? Meteorites? You think a spaceship the size of a phone both attached to another spaceship the size of 2 phone both could survive a meteorite strike!?"

Ah, ah. Not all meteorites are the size of house, dude. Some can be as big as a marble and cause huge damage...

And about the cynism of a few, it is indeed sad that they didn't remember themself about Appolo 13. But hey, it happened in 1970, not long after the dinosaurs disapeared, so who cares? ;-) So, go watch the movie with Tom Hanks...

[george graves]

^ Nice ass coverage Lee. IT WASN'T A METEORITE!