The LM was originally designed to support two astronauts for 45 hours. The crew Commander was 42-year-old Navy Captain James A. Lovell, Jr. Lovell's partner on the moon, the lunar module pilot, was Fred Haise, Jr. Assigned to remain in lunar orbit aboard Odyssey, the command module pilot, Navy Lieutenant Commander Thomas K. Mattingly."Five days before the launch date of April 11th, it was discovered that a member of the backup crew, Air Force Major Charles M. Duke, Jr., had come down with rubella (German measles)." The prime crew was given blood tests to determine if they had immunity. Lovell and Haise were cleared, but Mattingly was not. Having recently been exposed to rubella and because it was likely that he could get sick in flight, he was replaced with 34-year-old John L Swigert, Jr., who did have immunity. A test pilot, Swigert had a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Colorado and a Master of Science degree in aerospace science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The crew of Apollo 13 was boosted off Pad 39A of the Kennedy Space Center, right on time, at 2:13p.m., Easter Standard Time, Saturday, April 11, 1970. From the sounds, sights, and vibrations given off by the Saturn 5, the most powerful rocket in the world, everything seemed to be going smoothly to the casual observer. However, this was not the case. A series of minor flaws appeared during powered flight up through the atmosphere. Although not directly related, but precursors of the disaster to come two days later as the crew approached the Moon.During the firing of the Saturn 5's second stage, the center engine in a cluster of five cut off 132 seconds early as a result of unusually large oscillations in thrust chamber pressure. "This caused the remaining four engines to burn 34 seconds longer than planned." This would, hopefully, take the vehicle to the planned acceleration at second stage cutoff. Even with this compensation, the veloci...
