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ALT Flight Director Gerry Griffin raises his arm for a thumbs up in the foreground in this scene from the Mission Control Center at what is now Johnson Space Center. Next to him are fellow flight directors for the Apollo 13 mission, Eugene Kranz and Glynn Lunney, both clapping hands. Flight controllers and mission leaders celebrate the successful return of the Apollo 13 crew on April 17, 1970. Credit: NASA

ALT The crewmembers of the Apollo 13 mission, step aboard the USS Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the mission, following splashdown and recovery operations in the South Pacific Ocean. Exiting the helicopter which made the pick-up some four miles from the Iwo Jima are (from left) astronauts Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot; James A. Lovell Jr., commander; and John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot. The crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft splashed down at 1:07:44 p.m. (EST), April 17, 1970.