Apollo 13 Re-entry
Apollo 13 Re-entry Groundtrack
An approximate representation of Apollo 13’s re-entry groundtrack. Spacecraft elevation is not really reflected in this diagram. Since the spacecraft was higher than 100 nautical miles during its pass over Australia, the tracking limits for Carnarvon, Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla, would have been considerably larger. In addition, it is believed an ARIA had staged from Darwin to cover Central Australia. More details if they can be discovered. The groundtrack reversal (or foldback) occurred over the Indian Ocean, and is not depicted here. Click the image to download a 490kb PDF file. Hear Peter Pockley’s description of the groundtrack on Australian radio here. |
The photo was taken in the Houston ROCR; the Recovery Operations Control Room that was next to the MOCR. The display in the background on this photo shows the ground track of the Apollo 13 Command Module during re-entry. Click here for an enlargement of the groundtrack chart. Image found by Mike Dinn – this screenshot by Colin Mackellar from a brief film clip on the Spacecraft Films Apollo 13 DVD set. (With thanks to Tom Sheehan and Bill Wood for the ID of where this was taken.) |
Harry Campigli has shared his representation of Apollo 13’s re-entry groundtrack. While there is some guesswork involved, it gives a good idea of the ‘foldback’ or reversal of Apollo 13’s ground track as its increased speed towards re-entry reversed its direction with respect to the Earth. |