On the night of July 20, 1969, NASA astronauts and their families were gathering together to celebrate. Because at this moment, their three colleagues-Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins are on the Apollo 11 spacecraft, orbiting the moon, and will soon become the first humans to land on the moon. The astronauts who remained on the ground closely followed the movements of Apollo 11 through live television and encouraged the three colleagues in their own way. At 20:18:4 UTC, the Eagle lunar module landed smoothly on the surface of the moon. At 2:56:15 UTC, Neil Armstrong climbed down the escalator and left the first human footprint on the moon. Seeing this scene, everyone in front of the TV calmed down, filled with excitement and emotion, including Jim Lowell (played by Tom Hanks).
Like Armstrong, Born in 1928, Lowell was the second group of astronauts recruited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Since being listed in 1962, Lovell has entered space three times: Gemini 7, Gemini 12 and Apollo 8, of which Apollo 8 is a mission to orbit the moon, and the spacecraft’s orbit is only 185 kilometers. At that time, the moon was almost within reach in front of him, and Lovell could see every plain and every crater above. He even named one of the peaks after his wife Marilyn. Now, Neil Armstrong is ahead of everyone, taking his world-famous small step on the moon, and in the near future, Lovell will also take his own big step—according to the plan, Lovell Will command the spacecraft to land on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission.
However, the plan could not keep up with the changes after all. Three months later, just when Lowell planned to go on vacation with his family, the old predecessor Dick Slayton (Chris Ellis) brought him a "bombshell": because of Apo Row 13 Commander Alan Shepard (the first American astronaut to enter space) had just performed inner ear surgery and was not suitable for flying, so Slayton swapped the crews of Apollo 13 and Apollo 14. Lowell will command Apollo 13. The news that he was about to land on the moon made Lovell jump up with joy, and he hurried home to start packing. A few days later, Lowell, who had kissed his wife and children goodbye, took a flight to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to meet teammates Fred Hayes (Bill Paxton) and Ken Martinley (Gary Sinis). ) Put into intense training.
But something unexpected happened to Lowell. Just before the launch, the space agency decided to replace Ken Martinly because the doctor suspected he had been accidentally exposed to measles. Despite his reluctance, Martinley and Jack Sweigate (Kevin Bacon) in the alternate group changed shifts. This made Lovell and Hayes a little bit psychologically unsure, because even though Sweig Te is also an excellent astronaut, but after all, he is not as close to the two as Martinly, and Sweigert's training is a bit insufficient, no one can guarantee that he will be able to perform perfectly in space.
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 took off with the blessings of humankind from all over the world. However, 56 hours later, when the commander of the spacecraft, Jim Lovell, was talking to the ground command center in accordance with regulations, a sudden explosion interrupted it. After the commander's words, the three astronauts in the cabin were also shocked. Through the window, they saw a stream of air continuously emerging from the service cabin. Under the guidance of the ground command center, the astronauts quickly checked the service module. It turned out that the No. 2 oxygen tank in the service cabin suddenly exploded, blasting a large hole in the cabin, and because it was still leaking air, the spacecraft lost its stability and rolled over. The situation is extremely sinister. Not only is it impossible to land on the moon, but the lives of the astronauts are also seriously threatened. The audience watching the TV was very nervous.
The "Apollo 13" carrying three astronauts is 320,000 kilometers away from the Earth. The spacecraft cannot continue the mission to land on the moon. At this moment, the three astronauts Jim Lowell, Fred Hayes, Jack Sweigert has to face an unprecedented test. Even if he immediately returns to Earth, it would take four days to travel. However, the lunar module's oxygen, water, electricity, and food are only enough for two astronauts to last for two days. The three astronauts first connected the air cleaner in the command module to the air system in the lunar module to solve the problem of insufficient oxygen. At the same time, the power was turned off as much as possible to reduce food intake. In addition, through the guidance of the ground control center, the astronauts used the lunar module as a lifeboat, and at the same time changed the original flight route, that is, first fly to the moon for a round-the-moon flight, and then fly back to the earth. After orbiting the moon for 2 hours, the astronauts fired the rocket for 5 minutes to increase the speed and allow the spacecraft to return to Earth 9 hours earlier.
After 7 days of tossing, on April 17, 1970, "Apollo 13" finally landed on the Pacific Ocean under the cheers of the global audience. Although the mission to the moon failed, all the astronauts were rescued.
