Apollo XIII
Art & Lyrics
(Their Finest Hour)- In April of 1970, after two successful moon landings, a third but ill-fated mission to land men on the moon, Apollo 13, blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 13:13 Central Standard Time. Triskaidekaphobia would soon be validated as two days into the mission, on April 13th, an explosion completely crippled the spacecraft. The miracle that the crew, along with Ground Control in Houston, accomplished over the next couple of days, which ultimately got them home safely, remains as NASA's finest hour. This is my attempt at recreating this event through music. Is this Space-Rap? : )) Strap in, as the lyrics are coming at you like a meteor shower!
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Apollo XIII
music and lyrics JRRothrock April 13, 1990
Apollo XIII continued Kennedy’s dream, throwing three more men at the moon.
Early-on, in the flight, everything going right, but fortunes would change very soon.
At 55 hours and 55 minutes the crew felt a heavy vibration.
The explosion that followed would make this Apollo the focus of every nation.
"…alright, Houston…we’ve got a problem…."
The situation they’d face as gases vented to space, was a problem that had no solution.
With oxygen lost, failing power the cost, CO2 could reach lethal pollution.
The “ground-control” team struggling for a scheme to gain any hopes for survival.
And for what it is worth, they could get back to Earth, but the problem was dead on arrival.
With Command Module dead, the three of them fled from an area that would grow more precarious.
A haven was found in the compact surrounds of lunar module, the tiny “Aquarius”.
It would be their lifeboat and with hopes though remote the one vessel left that could deliver.
For the next couple days, they were drifting in space in this can where they’d tremble and shiver.
Ground-crew plans evolving, intent upon solving equations with unfailing persistence.
With waning resources, they revised the courses, then prayed to the Lord for assistance.
Miracles would transpire, as the ship was rewired, to recharge the lost battery power.
Any hopes to survive, to get home alive, saw the odds minimized by the hour.
With batteries low, they would give it a “go”, firing engines to gain realignment.
...knowing power consumed brought them closer to doom, left to perish in their metal confinement.
A plan was devised, as they fired through the skies, using gravity to sling them around… the moon.
To return they would need one more burn if they to ever set foot on the ground.
But soon they would learn that in order to burn they must manually fix engine alignment.
The debris left outside gave the stars place to hide, so, no tools to complete the assignment.
They were tired and spent, but they were hell-bent to give every last ounce they could muster.
They adjusted the slope, and with only blind hope, they accelerated by firing the thruster.
The most dangerous task had yet to be asked... the reentry to Earth’s atmosphere.
The precision of flight, getting angles just right, on the shoulders of ground engineers.
If you hit it too slight, you skip off in the night, and forever be lost in Creation.
If you come in too hard, you’ll in seconds be charred, and trigger your incineration.
Every nation, all size, had their eyes on the skies. For a moment mankind in "communion".
On the ground far below, eyes searched for the glow, to identify a pending reunion.
[Transmission blackout]
…………………………………………There they are!!!