Apollo 13: A Successful Failure

Please join us in person for this Zoom presentation of the 30-minute NASA documentary Apollo 13: Home Safe plus a Q&A session with astronaut Fred Haise.This video will present archival film of the mission and flight operators in their early to mid-30s along with a 2016 interview with the crew and flight operators in their early to mid-80s. The video is a quick study of Apollo 13 to help patrons develop questions for Fred Haise following the film.

Fred Haise is a retired military fighter pilot, aeronautical engineer, NASA research pilot and astronaut, Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot, Commander of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise and aerospace executive. The 44 year career of Fred W. Haise Jr. traverses aeronautics, astronautics and aerospace. Learning to fly as a Navy Aviation Cadet at 18, he eventually served in the Navy, Marine Corps and USAF before joining NASA in 1959, the year the agency formed, to be a research pilot. He joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1966 at the age of 32 and trained as the backup Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 8 and 11 before flying to the Moon, at the age of 36, on the aborted Apollo 13 mission as the prime Lunar Module Pilot. He was assigned to train as the backup Commander for Apollo 16 and slated to be prime Commander for Apollo 19 before that mission was canceled. He transferred to the Space Shuttle Orbiter Project Office in 1973 to be the special assistant to the project manager and advise on the design of the Space Shuttle orbiter and later become the first Commander of the Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise and the first person to fly the orbiter during the Approach and Landing Test Program in 1977 at the age of 43. He trained to fly the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia to boost the orbit of space station Skylab; however, delays in the launch schedule of the Space Shuttle failed to rescue Skylab. He joined Grumman Corporation in 1979, after retiring from NASA, to become Vice President of Space Programs, then President of Northrop Grumman Technical Services, working to process returning Space Shuttle orbiters to get them ready to fly again. Other notable projects include a four year engagement with the Space Station Freedom Program, which eventually became the International Space Station after he retired from Northrop Grumman in 1996 at the age of 63, having served 17 years. Fred Haise's career includes logging over 9,100 flight hours in more than 80 different types of aircraft, including time flying the Apollo 13 spacecraft and the Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise. In both air and space, Fred Haise has had extraordinary experiences acknowledged by various honors, such as the 2023 induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and authoring his memoir Never Panic Early along with publishing his personal archives at FredHaise.space. Here on Earth, Fred Haise, now in his 90s, serves educators and students alike with his stories that emphasize the importance of identifying your talent and living life pursuing your passion. The value of education and teamwork to solve problems and achieve the goals of a mission or overcome adversity on- and off-planet is a theme to inspire trust in yourself and in others and not forget to enjoy the adventure of life.

Registration required in order to get the Zoom link.