CH5 The True Story - Apollo 13 (2012)
Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks grossed $62 million at the box office and was nominated for nine academy awards. The movie tells the story of America's ill-fated third mission to the moon in the summer of 1970. Based on the book co-written by Apollo 13 commander James Lovell, the film enshrined in the English language the phrase “Houston, we have a problem”. And it changed forever the way people relate to what has been called the most successful failure in the history of space exploration.
The True Story shows how Hollywood plucked this amazing story from obscurity and turned what NASA feared would be an embarrassing stain on its reputation into a fascinating tale of how 3 astronauts, with the support of a group of brilliant engineers, overcame staggering odds and survived.
The documentary explores the amazing feat of heroism and ingenuity that rescued the three astronauts from their crippled spacecraft two hundred thousand miles from earth and brought them home. It reveals the almost unbearable conditions the astronauts had to suffer through: Intense cold, dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and crushing physical exhaustion. But how close to the truth was Hollywood's portrayal of the story?
The True Story will investigate the real cause of the explosion that killed Apollo 13. It was not, as the movie tells us, the result of a damaged coil in one of the oxygen tanks. It was a spectacular blunder; a mistake that no one at NASA caught. We'll show how one of the cheapest and simplest components on the spacecraft caused its undoing.
Well put some of those big movie moments to the test: How close were the astronauts to succumbing to carbon dioxide poisoning? And who was the real hero who rigged up the air filter that saved their lives?
Ultimately, the Apollo 13 movie succeeded in telling audiences a great deal about the actual mission. But you won't know what really went on until you watch The True Story.