On April 11, 1970, Commander Jim Lovell and pilots Jack Swigert and Fred Haise launched into space aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft. They were headed to the lunar surface—the third group of NASA astronauts to make this voyage. The mission was going according to plan . . . until an explosion damaged their spacecraft on the way to the moon. NASA engineers back on Earth had to think fast to get the astronauts home safe.