The Tampa Times from Tampa, Florida • 1

I III'! IHflM'WWW I Tampa, Friday, April ,17, 1970 56 Pages 10 Cents 78th Year No. 60 mf- m.M k. 1 i I V- 4-4 4. 1 '4 i4i iP lP 'S .1 Hi r4 hi 'I 1 4 0 C.s 5 5) vr lh L'; If 4 The astronauts first words after radio blackout ended came from Swigert at 12:59 p.m. EST.

"OK, JOE," he said when the con- More Apollo, page 4-A trol center told Apollo 13 ground forces were standing by. Apollo 13 had survived the most severe part of its re-entry into the atmosphere. Two 18-foot diameter nylon drogue parachutes popped out of the cone-shaped end of the seared spacecraft at 1:02 to begin its final landing sequence. Apollo 13 was about 23,000 feet above the ocean at the time. "We can see the drogues," said Swigert.

Giant cake spells welcome ABOARD USS IWO JIMA Ml Awaiting the Apollo 13 astronauts aboard this recovery ship today was a 300-pound cake with icing spelling out "Swigert, Lovell, HaiNc, Welcome Aboard." It was one-foot high, four feet long and three feet wide, with 100 pounds of icing and a recipe that included 15 dozen eggs and 40 pounds of flour. It took five days to make. afely if" 4- 4 The capsule's three big orange and white main parachutes were deployed at 1:03 p.m. to lower the charred spacecraft into the sea. THE SPACECRVFr was on target and in full view of millions of television viewers around the world.

The descending spacecraft was in clear view on television screens. It was one of the best televised astronaut recoveries. Mission controllers broke into applause. Three minutes before the spacecraft was to hit the ocean, a cloud of orange smoke was emitted from the spacecraft. was fuel dumped overboard as planned.

Mission control said 'Apollo 13 was only four miles off target. "Apollo 13, this is recovery and your chutes look good." the lead pickup helicopter pilot said. TilE THREE astronauts, on near exact course but "damned fatigued" after four days of coaxing a crippled spaceship a quarter million miles from the moon, cut free at 11:43 a.m. from the Aquarius whose power, oxygen and engines had saved thcmfrom death after an explosion Monday in the service module. Earlier they had jettisoned that shattered section and saw in astonishment one entire side had been blown off in the near-disaster that had spoiled America's third attempt to put men on the moon.

Lovell was last to float through the tunnel leading from Aquarius to the command ship Ody.s.sey. Then the hatch was closed and pressure in the tunnel popped the lunar lander free Pacific 1 ends ABOARD IWO JIMA IUPD Apollo 13's astronauts splashed safely in the South Pacific today, winning a dramatic four-day struggle to overcome America's worst space emergency. James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W.

liaise made it home in their command module Odyssey after discarding its ruptured service section and the lunar module Aquarius that saved their lives around the moon a quarter of a million miles away. The splashdown occurred at 1:08 p.m. EST. APOLLO 13 entered the earth's atmosphere at 12:53 p.m. EST.

"I know all of us here want to thank all of you guys down there for the very fine job you did," said Swigert as the spacecraft sped toward earth. Tracking was lost on Aquarius at "She sure was a good ship," Swigert said when the loss was reported by mission control. "Welcome home," mission control told the crew just before Apollo 13 hit the atmosphere. TRACKING STATIONS reported losing communications signals from Apollo 13 at 12:53 p.m. EST, about a minute earlier than planned.

This radio "blackout" was caused by the buildup of electrically charged gases around the spacecraft as it sliced into the top fringes of the air. The spaceship's deceleration as it dived into the thicker layers of the at-hio-sphero built up an estimated force on the astronauts equal to more than five the pull of gravity. 1 '4. l- If 1 1 1 4. 1 41 4 '4f.

44 4- 44 4T Lovell, on his fourth space journey and second to the moon, said before Apollo 13's blastoff this would be his last flight. Ten hours before re-entry, the astronauts reported the spacecraft was so that it was hard to sleep. Ground controllers urged them to try anyway so they would be reslcd for the critical return. "WELL, WE'LL take it easy and we'll try to sleep, but it's just awful cold," replied Swigert. "All of us have the same problem.

It's just too cold to sleep." "I know none of you arc sleeping worth a damn because it's so cold," said chief astronaut Donald K. Slaton. "You might want to dig out the medical kit at 1.35 (hours after launch) and pull out a couple of dexedrines (stimulants) apiece and try one about then and another about 139-140. "I brought that up," said Lovell. "We might consir'er it." "We'd like to figure a way to get a cup of coffee up to you," said Slayton.

"It would taste pretty good wouldn't it?" "HANG IN THERE, it won't be long now," Slayton said. fil ff Vw w9 i. Before reaching the top fringes of earth's atmosphere at 12:54 p.m. the Blast-periled Helicopter plucks Apollo 13 from sea three pilots hr.d to make a final, minor -f steering correction to refine their patn down the re-entry corridor, jettison their ruptured service module and then finally discard the lunar module (LM) that saved their lives when an explosion ripped the aft section of the command ship 205,000 miles from home Monday night. The three astronauts were eager to get back home, and the latest plans called for them to arrive by Air Force j.

iof nf Houston Sundav mornine after I like a cork from a popgun. After the explosion that set the service module free, Lovell used the engines on Aquarius to move away from the section still loaded wilh 40,000 pounds of unused fuel. LOVELL AND his rookie crewmates attempted to take pictures of the shattered service module so scientists can try to pinpoint what caused the blast that ruined their scheduled landing on the moon. The astronauts were a.ston-ished at the damage that had been done. "Man, that's unbelievable," Hai.se said.

Lovell said "a lot of debris" was hanging on to the side of the service module. Its big engine appeared damaged. The commander revealed all the men had taken a stimulant, dcxedrine, before the final hours of split-second operations. "Well, you can't, say this week hasn't boon filled with excitement," Lovell told the ground. "Yeah, James," Joe Kerwin replied, "If you can't take any better caro of spacecraft than that, we may not give you another," spending tonight on the Iwo Jima.

The goal of the $375 million Apollo 13 mission America's third moon landing attempt was to carry out the most ambitious lunar scientific studies. LOVELL AND liaise would have ended their second moon walk early today and at mid-morning would have blasted home. The first two days of the flight went jjJ without a hitch. But at 10 p.m. Monday I ') night, some 55,000 miles from the li moon, Apollo 13 was jolted by an ex- plosion and the three astronauts had to It.n,., Kif rtf Omit clftll fnill'- UlllW U1A'1I tVVlJ 4J1I, Vi 1114 14 U14I44, age and training to survive..