Failure is Not an Option
Fred Haise
October 1, 2019 at 2:00 P.M. in the Pearl Young Theater
(video within Langley firewall only.)
Abstract
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module (SM) upon which the command module (CM) had depended. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to make makeshift repairs to the carbon dioxide removal system, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17, 1970, six days after launch. This mission was dramatized in the 1995 Hollywood movie titled Apollo 13. Mr. Fred Haise flew as the Lunar Module Pilot, and he will discuss his experiences as an Apollo astronaut and Apollo 13 crew member
Speaker
Fred Haise had a 20-year NASA career which included serving as an Aeronautics Research Pilot at Lewis Research Center in 1959, a Research Pilot at the NASA Flight Research Center in 1963, and as an Astronaut at Johnson Space Center starting in 1966. In addition to Apollo, he flew five flights as the Commander of the Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1977 for the Approach and Landing Test Program at Edwards Air Force Base.
In the 1950s, Mr. Haise served as a US Marine Corps Fighter Pilot, and he has logged 9,100 hours of flying time in over 80 types of aircraft. After leaving NASA, Mr. Haise served as President of Northrop Grumman Technical Services until retiring in 1996. He has received numerous awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Kinchloe “Test Pilot of the Year” Award, the NASA Distinguished Service and Exceptional Service Medals, the Aerospace Walk of Honor, and the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.