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Posted: 10/7/2011
Archival footage (narrated by Walter Cronkite) reflects on President John F. Kennedy's call to action to bring the American space program forward to a landing on the Moon by the end of the 1960s, as well as the tragedy of the fire in the Apollo 1 capsule that killed three U.S. astronauts, as well as America's return to space soon thereafter.
On July 20, 1969, veteran astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) bears witness to Neil Armstrong's historic first steps on the moon in Apollo 11 from a party at his home in Houston. Lovell tells his wife, Marilyn (Kathleen Quinlan), of his wish for a moon landing of his own. A few months later, Lovell, who's expecting to fly Apollo 14, is giving a VIP tour of NASA's towering Vehicle Assembly Building while the massive Saturn V rocket is being assembled. As the US representatives question the need for any further moon landings after beating the Soviet Union to the moon, Lovell is informed by Deke Slayton (Chris Ellis) that he and his crew have been bumped up to be prime crew of Apollo 13. After informing his family of his new flight assignment, Lovell and his crew, Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) begin training for Apollo 13 instead of Apollo 14. As the launch date approaches, Marilyn's fears for her husband's fourth space mission manifest in nightmares and her unwillingness to go to the launch. Two days before launch, Lovell is informed that Mattingly had been exposed to German measles. Despite his efforts to overrule the flight surgeon's recommendations, Lovell bumps Mattingly off the flight. He is replaced by the backup Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), much to the chagrin of Haise and Mattingly.
On April 11, 1970, Lovell, Haise and Swigert are suited up for the launch. In Houston's Mission Control Center, Apollo 13 flight director Eugene F. Kranz (Ed Harris) prepares Mission Control for the flight. After the crew has been secured into the spacecraf