Manufacturer: AB Emblem.
Dimensions: 4" / 101mm.
Program: Apollo.
Flown Status: unflown.
Description:
Apollo 13 AB Emblem patch. This patch is very different to the design worn by the crew, with multi-colored horses and no craters on the lunar surface. It exists in two main variants, one embroidered on a black velvety background (as the one I have) and the other on black twill. The velvet version appears to be slightly more common than the twill version.Apollo 13:
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission of NASA's Apollo program, originally intended to be the third mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Launched on April 11, 1970, it encountered a critical failure that transformed the mission into a dramatic story of survival in space.The crew of Apollo 13 included astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert Jr., and Fred W. Haise Jr. Approximately 56 hours into the mission, while en route to the Moon, an oxygen tank in the service module exploded, causing a catastrophic failure.
The explosion severely damaged the service module, depriving the Command Module, named "Odyssey," of crucial life-support systems and power. The lunar landing was immediately aborted, and the focus shifted to getting the crew safely back to Earth.
Working together with mission control, the crew improvised solutions to stabilize the spacecraft and conserve resources, such as oxygen and power. They used the Lunar Module, named "Aquarius," originally intended for lunar landing, as a "lifeboat" to sustain them during the return journey.
Through remarkable ingenuity and teamwork, the crew managed to navigate a critical course correction using the Lunar Module's descent engine and successfully reentered Earth's atmosphere. Despite the tremendous challenges, Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970.
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