The scheduling decision involved a choice about a scarce rocket. NASA says it canceled the planned Apollo 20 Moon landing on January 4, 1970, because its Saturn V was needed for an experimental space station planned for 1972. On January 13, the agency outlined a plan to space lunar landing missions six months apart rather than four, with Apollo 14 scheduled for October instead of July. [S1]
For Apollo 13, the prime crew and backups practiced surface excursions and water egress and spent time in spacecraft simulators. Workers had begun testing the Saturn V and spacecraft at the launch pad, while technicians prepared two lunar sample containers, loading them with bags, sample containers and two 2-centimeter core sample tubes before sealing the boxes under vacuum. [S1]
The planned scientific work extended beyond the landing itself. NASA says James Lovell and Fred Haise planned two four-hour spacewalks during a 33.5-hour stay on the Moon’s surface, including deployment of five experiments designed to collect data after their departure. Ken Mattingly planned to make geological observations from lunar orbit, including photographs of potential future landing sites. [S1]
The work also connected missions to researchers on Earth. From January 5 to 8, 1970, several hundred scientists gathered in Houston, including all 142 U.S. and international principal investigators who had received Apollo 11 samples. They discussed the samples’ chemistry and mineralogy, dating results and findings from surface experiments. [S1]
Source documents
- 55 Years Ago: Apollo 13 Prepares for Third Moon Landinghttps://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/55-years-ago-apollo-13-prepares-for-third-moon-landing/