NASA Recreates Apollo 13 Trip on Around the Backside of the Moon

NASA’s Apollo 13 was one of the space agency’s most incredible missions into space. With a goal of landing on the Moon, the mission hit a colossal snag when a spacecraft malfunction blew it off course and threatened the lives of the three-man crew. It took an around-the-clock effort to bring them back alive, and was ultimately deemed a “successful failure.” It was a trying time for the space agency as well as the astronauts aboard the doomed spacecraft. Rather than landing on the Moon, the crew used the Moon’s gravity to slingshot the spacecraft around and make a quick flight back to Earth. It wasn’t what anyone had planned, but it did provide the men with a glorious, up-close look at the Moon.

The two-minute clip opens in darkness to honor the crew that were in pitch black for eight minutes while sitting between earthset and sunrise. The sun then appears from around the corner, revealing the lunar surface's majestic craters and pot marks. Data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft now makes it possible to show what the Apollo 13 astronauts saw as they flew around the far side of the Moon. This video showcases visualizations in 4K resolution of many of those lunar surface views, starting with earthset and sunrise, and concluding with the time Apollo 13 reestablished radio contact with Mission Control. Also depicted is the path of the free return trajectory around the Moon, and a continuous view of the Moon throughout that path. All views have been sped up for timing purposes - they are not shown in "real-time."

Credits:
https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-new-apollo-13-video-puts-you-on-harrowing-journey-around-moon/