posted 02-23-2021 01:30 PM               

Apollo 13 astronauts statue touches down at Space Center Houston

NASA's Apollo 13 crew has landed in Houston — permanently and perpetually.

James Lovell, Fred Haise and the late Jack Swigert have been immortalized as a bronze statue now on display at Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas. The life-size sculpture recreates the moment on April 17, 1970, when the three crewmates stepped out of a helicopter onto the deck of an aircraft carrier, marking their safe recovery after the "Houston, we've had a problem" ill-fated moon mission.

posted 04-18-2021 07:00 PM               

Apollo 13 astronauts raise a toast to their recovery with new statue

Fifty-one years to the day after they survived an explosion on the way to the moon, astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise came face-to-face with their post-splashdown selves in Houston.

The two Apollo 13 crewmates celebrated the 51st anniversary of their safe return to Earth by toasting the installation of a life-size sculpture capturing the moment they stepped off a Navy helicopter onto an aircraft carrier, marking their successful recovery on April 17, 1970. The painted bronze statue first debuted at Space Center Houston in February, but Saturday (April 17) marked its formal dedication.