Metus Apollinis

Launched on April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program and the third intended to land on the Moon. Due to an explosion in one of the service module’s oxygen tanks, the mission had to be aborted. Apollo 13 is remembered as a “successful failure” for the ingenuity and bravery it revealed. Commander James Lovell, who had already orbited the Moon during the Apollo 8 mission, never set foot on its surface. Apollo 13 was supposed to be his chance. After the explosion on board, that opportunity was lost for good.