455 a
Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, or James Lovell

View of the interior of the lifeboat LM Aquarius plunged into darkness during the homeward journey

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS13-61-8862” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

455 b
Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, or James Lovell

The Earth seen through the window of the spacecraft together with the reflection of another window

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS13-61-8864” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

455 c
Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, or James Lovell

The Moon and its own reflection in the LM window

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS13-61-8865” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

455 d
Jack Swigert, Fred Haise, or James Lovell

The tunnel connecting the lifeboat LM Aquarius and the Command Module Odyssey

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970

Unreleased photograph, vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS13-61-8878” (NASA MSC) in red in top margin

455 e
NASA / Unidentified Photographer

Mission Control constructing a prototype of the “mailbox” which saved the astronauts’ life

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970

Vintage gelatin silver print on fiber-based paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA KSC caption on the verso

455 f
James Lovell, Jack Swigert, or Fred Haise

View of the celebrated “mailbox” which saved the astronauts’ lives in the lifeboat LM Aquarius

Apollo 13, April 11-17, 1970, 091:10:26 GET

Vintage chromogenic print on fiber-based Kodak paper, 20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in), with NASA MSC caption and “A Kodak Paper” watermarks on the verso, numbered “NASA AS13-62-8929” in red in top margin
20.3 x 25.4cm (8 x 10in)

455 e
Jacobs, p. 84; NASA SP-350, p. 256.

455 f
Chaikin, A Man on the Moon p.144; NASA SP-350, p. 256.

455 f
Zürich, Kunsthaus, Salzburg, Museum der Moderne, Fly me to the Moon, March-June 2019 and July- November 2019; exhibition catalogue, p. 360, no. 45.

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Lot Essay

455 a
The rendezvous window of the dark and cold spacecraft is visible.

The Lunar Module was built for a 45-hour lifetime and that had to be stretched to 90. It was determined that the oxygen and power supply were probably sufficient but water looked like it was going to be a problem and had to be severely rationed. With most of the electrical systems turned off to conserve power, they were not producing sufficient heat to keep the spacecraft warm. In addition, a considerable amount of moisture condensed on the interior which added to the astronauts’ discomfort.

455 b
A LM thruster on the exterior of the spacecraft is in the foreground (at the top right).
The window reflection is at the left.

455 c
Due to the explosion, Apollo 13 astronauts had no photography plan for the rest of the mission and took pictures on their own documenting their hazardous journey in space.
This superb photograph was taken through the 60mm lens.

455 d
From the mission transcript during the homeward journey to Earth:

112:23:32 Lousma (Mission Control): Aquarius, could you get a—amps and volts readout from Odyssey, please?
112:23:45 Haise: Okay. Stand by.
112:24:08 Haise: The CMP (Swigert) is dotting across there. You’d be amazed at how proficient you get at transfering to the tunnel after the first 1000 times.

455 e
The “mail box” was constructed when it became apparent CO2 was becoming a problem for the
astronauts.

“Carbon dioxyde would poison the astronauts unless scrubbed from the LM atmosphere by lithium hydride canisters. But the LM had only enough lithium hydride for 4 man-days - plenty for the lunar landing but not the 12 man-day’s worth needed now. Here Deke Slayton (center) explains a possible fix to (left to right) Sjoberg, Kraft, and Gilruth. At left is Flight Director Glynn Lunney” (NASA SP-350, p. 256).

“Backroom experts at Mission Control worked many hours to devise the fix that possibly kept the astronauts from dying of carbon dioxide. CapCom Joe Kerwin led Astronaut Swigert, step by step, for an hour to build a contraption like the one the experts had constructed on Earth. It involved stripping the hose from a lunar suit and rigging the hose to the taped-over CM double canister, using the suit’s fan to draw carbon dioxide from the cabin through the canister and expel it back into the LM as pure oxygen” (NASA SP-350, p. 256).

From the mission transcript on the way back to Earth:

080:37:33 Haise: Okay. You guys just tell me what sort of material you had in mind to build this mailbox out of, and Jack and I will go to work on trying to construct that thing. Assume we’ll use the space-age baling wire or the gray tape?
080:37:51 Brand (Mission Control): That’s affirm. We have a lengthy procedure here; but, in short, you use plastic as a covering for the whole thing.

455 f
Interior view of the LM showing the “mail box,” a jury-rigged arrangement which the astronauts built to use the CM lithium hydroxide canisters to purge carbon dioxide from the LM.
Lithium hydroxide is used to scrub CO2 from the spacecraft’s atmosphere. Since there was a limited amount of lithium hydroxide in the LM, this arrangement was rigged up to utilize the canisters from the CM.

“The trouble was the square lithium hydroxide canisters from the CM would not fit the round openings of those in the LM environmental system. After a day and a half in the LM a warning light showed us that the carbon dioxide had built up to a dangerous level, but the ground was ready. They had thought up a way to attach a CM canister to the LM system by using plastic bags, cardboard, and tape, all materials we had on board. Jack and I put it together: just like building a model airplane. The contraption wasn’t very handsome but it worked. It was a great improvisation, and a fine example of cooperation between ground and space,” said James Lovell (NASA SP-350, p. 13.4).

091:10:26 Swigert: Okay. Our do-it-yourself lithium hydroxide canister change is complete. Joe (Kerwin at Mission Control), the only thing different is that our arch on this piece of cardboard is not big enough to position the red hose with the inlet down, and the inlet—the inlet to—to the red hose is lying on its side, but I think it’ll still work.