Was Alan Shepard supposed to be on Apollo 13?

Apollo 13 was the third Apollo mission that was supposed to land on the moon. Tom Hanks played commander James Lovell. He and his crew replaced Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and his crew due to an inner ear problem that Shepard had experienced.

Why did Alan Shepard get bumped from Apollo 13?

Shepard, Mitchell and Roosa were originally scheduled to fly Apollo 13 and were bumped to give Shepard more training time in the simulators before his return to space flight following treatment for Ménière’s disease.

What almost happened to Alan Shepard?

After his first flight, Shepard developed a medical problem. An inner ear problem stopped him from flying in space. Later, he had surgery to fix the ear problem, and he was able to fly again. Almost 10 years passed between his first and second flights.

Why was Mattingly replaced on the Apollo 13 mission?

Mattingly had been scheduled to fly on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, but three days prior to launch, he was held back and replaced by Jack Swigert due to exposure to German measles (which Mattingly did not contract).

Is Apollo 13 lunar module still in orbit?

The Apollo 13 continued on to the Moon, and the LM descent engine was used to accelerate the spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth. The LM re-entered and burned in the Earth’s atmosphere over the southwest Pacific, any surviving pieces impacted in the deep ocean off the coast of New Zealand.

Who was the smartest astronaut?

In 1996 he became only the second astronaut to fly on six spaceflights, and he is the most formally educated astronaut with six academic degrees. Musgrave is the only astronaut to fly aboard all five Space Shuttles.

Did Alan Shepard walk on the moon twice?

In 1961, he became the second man and the first American to travel into space, and in 1971, he walked on the Moon. This was surgically corrected in 1969, and in 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, piloting the Apollo Lunar Module Antares.

Did Alan Shepard have health issues?

But in the early 1960s, Alan Shepard had been diagnosed with a rare condition of the inner ear called Meniere’s disease. This disorder, caused when fluid pressure builds up in the inner ear, can affect both hearing and balance, resulting in disorientation, dizziness and nausea.

How was Apollo 13 a successful failure?

Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 13 mission that never made it to the moon, the one where Commander Jim Lovell uttered the phrase “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” NASA calls the mission a “successful failure,” because even though an explosion crippled the primary spacecraft two days in, Lovell …