Moon Landing: T Minus 1 Days – What Could Go Wrong

By Jeremy Briggs on July 19, 2009

Forty years ago today, the crew of Apollo 11 were almost at the Moon with their mission progressing smoothly.

The crew of Apollo 13 were not so lucky when, on 14th April 1970, an explosion occurred in their Service Module 55 hours and 55 minutes into their journey to the Moon. Orbital mechanics prevented them just turning around and coming home and they had to use their Lunar Module as a lifeboat to fly around the Moon and back again to the Earth before returning to their damaged CSM and a nervous re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

Look and Learn artist Wilf Hardy catches the moment of the explosion on the front cover of the magazine’s issue 450, dated 29 August 1970. The Apollo 13 crew did return home safely and intricacies of their mission is now well known due to the Apollo 13 film.

Yesterday – The Command and Service Module
Tomorrow – The Eagle Has Landed

• Look and Learn Official Web Site: www.lookandlearn.com

• Coinciding with Jeremy’s countdown to the 40th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing, downthetubes published “Moon Landing 40th Anniversary: A Comics Celebration” – a gallery of illustrations and comic art inspired by space exploration

APOLLO BOOKS AND OTHER MEDIA

Apollo (Graphic Novel)
By Matt Fitch, Chris Baker & Mike Collins
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

In 1969, humankind set foot on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Edwin ”Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins carried the fire for all the world. Backed by the brightest minds in engineering and science, the three boarded a rocket and flew through the void―just to know that we could. In Apollo, Matt Fitch, Chris Baker, and Mike Collins unpack the urban legends, the gossip, and the speculation to reveal a remarkable true story about life, death, dreams, and the reality of humanity’s greatest exploratory achievement.

Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys
by Michael Collins
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events – technical and spiritual – of our lifetime. In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humour of that adventure

Apollo 11: The Inside Story
by David Whitehouse
• Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the Apollo 11 mission, putting it in the context of the wider space race and telling the story in the words of those who took part – based around exclusive interviews with the key players.

Jeremy Briggs

News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.