Guest: Jennifer Levasseur,
Curator, National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC
 
In Jeff Lovell’s bedroom, Jim Lovell is talking to his son about the Lunar Module.
“– only holds two people.  It’s just for landing on the Moon. And I take the controls, and I steer it around, and I fly it down, adjusting it here, the attitude there, ” says Jim, steering a model LM, “pitch, roll – – for a nice, soft landing on the Moon.” He sets the LM model down on a table. “Better than Neil Armstrong,” says Jim Lovell, “way better than Pete Conrad.”
“Dad…” says Jeff, hesitantly, “Did you know the astronauts in the fire?”
“Yeah, yeah I did know the astronauts in the fire,” replies Jim. “All of them.”
“Could that happen again?” asks Jeff.
“Well, I’ll tell you something about that fire,” says Jim, “Um, a lot of things went wrong. The door – – it’s called the hatch? — They couldn’t get it open when they needed to get out, that was one thing.”
IN THIS MINUTE:
Jim Lovell: Tom Hanks
Marilyn Lovell : Kathleen Quinlan
Jeff Lovell: Miko Hughes

Minute 016: The Door

A minute-by-minute analysis of director Ron Howard's 1995 feature film, Apollo 13

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Jim Lovell is surrounded by the applauding Iwo Jima crew.
TITLE: THE END
MUSIC: “Apollo 13 End Credit,  Featuring Annie Lennox”
TITLES:
CAST
Jim Lovell – TOM HANKS
Fred Haise – BILL PAXTON
Jack Swigert – KEVIN BACON
Ken Mattingly – GARY SINISE
Gene Kranz – ED HARRIS
Marilyn Lovell – KATHLEEN QUINLAN
Barbara Lovell – MARY KATE SCHELLHARDT
Susan Lovell – EMILY ANN LLOYD
Jeffrey Lovell – MIKO HUGHES
Jay Lovell – MAX ELLIOTT SLADE
Blanch Lovell – JEAN SPEEGLE HOWARD
Mary Haise – TRACY REINER
Pete Conrad – DAVID ANDREWS
Jane Conrad – MICHELLE LITTLE
Deke Slayton – CHRIS ELLIS
NASA Director – JOE SPANO
Henry Hurt – XANDER BERKELEY
Glynn Lunney – MARC McCLURE
John Young – BEN MARLEY
EECOM White – CLINT HOWARD
EECOM Arthur – LOREN DEAN
EECOM Gold – TOM WOOD
RETRO White – GOOGY GRESS
RETRO Gold – PATRICK MICKLER
FIDO White – RAY McKINNON
FIDO Gold – MAX GRODÉNCHIK
Dr. Chuck – CHRISTIAN CLEMENSON
CAPCOM 1 – BRETT CULLEN
CAPCOM 2 – NED VAUGHN
GUIDO White – ANDY MILLER
LEM Controller White – WAYNE DUVALL
TELMU White – JIM MESKIMEN
TELMU Gold – JOSEPH CULP
INCO White – JOHN SHORT
INCO Gold – BEN BODÉ
FAO White – TODD LOUISO
GNC White  – GABRIEL JARRET
Booster White – CHRISTOPHER JOHN FIELDS
Grumman Rep – KENNETH WHITE
Ted – JIM RITZ
Launch Director – ANDREW LIPSCHULTZ
Neil Armstrong – MARK WHEELER
Buzz Aldrin – LARRY WILLIAMS
Guenter Wendt – ENDRE HULES
Tracey – KAREN MARTIN
Woman – MAUREEN HANLEY
Kim – MEADOW WILLIAMS
Technician – WALTER VON HUENE
Pad Rats – BRIAN MARKINSON, STEVE RANKIN
Whiz Kid – AUSTIN O’BRIEN
Whiz Kid Mom – LOUISA MARIE
Orderly – THOM BARRY
SIM Techs – ARTHUR SENZY, CARL GABRIEL YORKE, RYAN HOLIHAN
Reverend – RANCE HOWARD
Neighbor – J.J. CHABACK
Noisy Civilian – TODD HALLOWELL
Stephen Haise – MATTHEW GOODALL
Fred Haise, Jr. – TAYLOR GOODALL
Margaret Haise – MISTY DICKINSON
Congressman – ROGER CORMAN
Loud Reporters – LEE ANNE MATUSEK, MARK D. NEWMAN
Suit Room Assistant – MARK McKEEL
Patty – PATTY RAYA
Science Reporters – JACK CONLEY, JEFFREY S. KLUGER
Anchors – BRUCE WRIGHT, IVAN ALLEN, JON BRUNO
Roger Chaffee – REED RUDY
Virgil Grissom – STEVE BERNIE
Edward White – STEVEN RUGE
Reporters – HERBERT JEFFERSON, JR. , JULIE DONATT, JOHN DULLAGHAN, THOMAS CRAWFORD, JOHN WHEELER, FRANK CAVESTANI, PAUL MANTEE, JOHN M. MATHEWS
Stunt Coordinators – MICKEY GILBERT, JIM HALTY
Stunts – HEATHER BURTON, JOE FINNEGAN, KIM KOSCKI, VINCENT MAZZELLA, JR., JOHN ROBOTHAM
Associate Producer – LOUISA VELIS
Unit Production Manager – CARL CLIFFORD
First Assistant Director – ALDRIC LA’AULI PORTER
Second Assistant Director – JANE PAUL
IN THIS MINUTE:
Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell

Minute 135: The End

GUEST: NASA ENGINEER STUART MCCLUNG
Jim Lovell, narrating from the present day, talks about how Jack Swigert ran for Congress from the state of Colorado, “but he died of cancer before he was able to take office.”
On board the Iwo Jima, the Apollo 13 crew walks among the applauding Navy crew.
The Mission Control team applauds and smokes cigars. Ken Mattingly is in the center of the support team.
Lovell narrates: “Ken Mattingly orbited the Moon as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 16, and flew the space shuttle, having never gotten the measles. Gene Kranz retired as director of flight operations just not long ago. And many other members of Mission Control have gone onto other things, but some are still there.”
The Captain of the Iwo Jima salutes Jim Lovell. Lovell returns the salute, and shakes the Captain’s hand.
Lovell narrates: “And as for me, the seven extraordinary days of Apollo 13 were my last in space.”
The Apollo 13 crew bows its head in prayer along with the crew of the Iwo Jima.
Lovell narrates: “I watched other men walk on the Moon and return safely, all from the confines of Mission Control and our house in Houston. I sometimes catch myself looking up at the Moon, remembering the changes of fortune in our long voyage, thinking of the thousands of people who worked to bring the three of us home. I look up at the Moon, and wonder: when will we be going back, and who will that be?”
IN THIS MINUTE:
Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell
Bill Paxton as Fred Haise
Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert
Jim Lovell as Navy Captain
Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz

Minute 134: When Will We be Going Back?

Jim Lovell looks up from the life raft outside the returned Odyssey spacecraft.
Later, on the deck of the Iwo Jima, Lovell, Haise, and Swigert exit the helicopter, wearing blue flight suits and sporting Iwo Jima caps.
Marilyn and the Lovell family are elated seeing the crew on television.
The crew of the Iwo Jima applauds. Swigert and Haise wave at the crew.
Lovell narrates: “Our mission was called a successful failure, in that we returned safely, but never made it to the Moon.”
A “Welcome Back” sign appears on the Mission Control monitor, as Mission Control applauds.
The crew of Apollo 13 walks past a cheering Iwo Jima crew.
Lovell narrates: “In the following months, it was determined that a damaged coil built inside the oxygen tank sparked during our cryo stir and caused the explosion that crippled the Odyssey. It was a minor defect that occurred two years before I was even named the flight’s commander. Fred Haise was going back to the Moon on Apollo 18, but his mission was canceled because of the budget cuts, he never flew in space again. Nor did Jack Swigert. Who left the astronaut corps and was elected to Congress from the state of Colorado.”
 
IN THIS MINUTE:
Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell
Bill Paxton as Fred Haise
Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert
Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell

Minute 133: A Successful Failure

A Navy frogman knocks on the hatch of Odyssey.
Jim Lovell gives the frogman a thumbs-up sign, then unstraps Fred Haise from his couch. Haise shakes his hand. Swigert and Lovell then shake hands.
“Houston. We’re at Stable One,” radios Lovell. “The ship is secure. This is Apollo 13, signing off.”
In Mission Control, Gene Kranz gives two thumbs-up.
Helicopter 66 lifts a Billy Pugh net carrying Jack Swigert up to the door. Haise is already onboard the helicopter. Lovell stands up in the hatch, blinking in the sunshine. He tumbles into the life raft. while a Navy frogman holds onto him.
IN THIS MINUTE:
Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell
Bill Paxton as Fred Haise
Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz
 

Minute 132: This is Apollo 13, Signing Off

GUEST: NASA CHIEF HISTORIAN BILL BARRY
Gene Kranz wipes his eyes and stands up in Mission Control.
Over the Pacific, three parachutes lowering the Command Module are lit by the rising sun.
Flight crews on the USS Iwo Jima applaud and wave as Odyssey floats toward the surface. Odyssey splashes down in brilliant sunshine.
Navy helicopters 66 and 406 head toward the spacecraft.
Mary Haise hugs her family.
Jay Lovell’s schoolmates pat him on the back.
Blanch Lovell smiles broadly as Buzz Aldrin hugs her.
Two Navy frogmen jump into the ocean next to the spacecraft.
In Mission Control, Deke Slayton shakes Gene Kranz’s hand, and also the NASA Director’s hand.
One of the Navy frogmen swims up to Odyssey’s hatch.
IN THIS MINUTE:
Chris Ellis as Deke Slayton
Loren Dean as John Aaron
Ben Marley as John Young
Todd Louiso as FAO – White Team
Joe Spano as NASA Director
Ed Harris as Gene Kranz
Marc McClure as Glynn Lunney
Clint Howard as Sy Liebergot
Googy Gress as RETRO White
Christian Clemenson as Flight Surgeon Dr. Chuck
Ned Vaughn as CAPCOM 2
Max Grodénchik as FIDO Gold
Walter von Huene as Technician
Kenneth White as Grumman Rep
Jean Speegle Howard as Blanch Lovell
Kathleen Quinlan as Marilyn Lovell
Mark Wheeler as Neil Armstrong
Walter Cronkite as Himself
Tracy Reiner as Mary Haise
Miko Hughes as Jeffrey Lovell
Rance Howard as Priest
Emily Ann Lloyd as Susan Lovell
Mary Kate Schelhardt as Barbara Lovell
Max Elliott Slade as Jay Lovell

Minute 016: The Door

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