Movie Review: Apollo 13

Movie Review: Apollo 13

The title of this movie is Apollo 13. This movie is a recreation of the horrific events that unfolded in space after a normal maintenance procedure, and the heroic and desperate efforts many people made to ensure that the astronauts made it home safely.

At the beginning of the movie, Jim Lovell is notified that he and his team would be bumped up to the Apollo 13 mission, because Alan Shepard's ear was infected. Lovell and his team were scheduled to be the commander of the Apollo 14 mission. After months of intense training for the Apollo 13 mission, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Ken Mattingly take their official pictures in their spacesuits, just four days before their launch. Then, just two days before launch, an astronaut on the backup crew develops the measles, and the only person on the launch team who has not already had the measles is Ken Mattingly. NASA then decides to replace Ken with someone from the backup crew--Jack Swigert. Apollo 13 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970. Two days later, Jack Swigert stirs the oxygen and hydrogen tanks. When he does this, a faulty coil in the tank caused a spark, and sequentially, an explosion. After the explosion, the astronauts don't know what to do. Lovell discovers oxygen leaking from the ship. They stabilize the ship, and stop the leaking oxygen which is precious for their survival in space. These brave men are forced to shut down virtually the whole spaceship, leaving them with no heat or navigation features, so they can conserve the batteries needed for reentry into Earth's atmosphere. They cruise around the moon, and head back home. The astronauts are forced to make manual course corrections without computers in order to line up with earth, which is very dangerous. As they near Earth, they must power the ship back up in the right order so that they ensure that they have enough battery power to open the chutes. The astronauts do safely return to earth. The Apollo 13 mission was officially over, as the reentry vehicle safely landed on earth.

This movie portrayed the history of the Space Race against the Soviet Union. This race was the first of its kind. The movie showed how the dreams of one person could become a reality. Of course, we won the space race, and made repeat trips to the moon. This movie was made because it showed the true courage and determination