As we mark the 50th anniversary of our Apollo 13 mission, we’re sharing memories, recognizing the triumph of the mission control team and the astronauts, and looking at how those lessons learned can be applied to our lunar Artemis program.

The Apollo 13 crew consisted of Commander James (Jim) Lovell Jr., Command Module Pilot John (Jack) Swigert Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise Jr. While en route to the Moon on April 13, 1970, a catastrophic explosion forced the mission to circle the Moon without landing. A dedicated team in Apollo mission control room oversaw the safe return of its crew and the mission was deemed “a successful failure.”

Virtually explore the historic mission with new programming, historic documents, images and video, including previously unreleased conversations between the crew of Apollo 13 and the recently restored Apollo Mission Control Center in Houston.

Meet Chris Cassidy – A veteran of two spaceflights, astronaut Chris Cassidy arrived safely to the International Space Station this week. During his six-month mission, Cassidy and his crewmates will support about 250 research experiments not possible on Earth.

Before Cassidy was selected as an astronaut in 2004, he spent 11 years as a member of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team and deployed to the Afghanistan region two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He achieved the rank of Navy captain in 2014 and remains on active duty.

Over the past several weeks, our satellite measurements have revealed significant reductions in air pollution over the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast United States. Similar reductions have been observed in other regions of the world. These recent improvements in air quality have come at a high cost, as communities grapple with widespread lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders as a result of the spread of COVID-19.

Image Credit: NASA