Apollo 13 – lithium hydroxide saves the day

It is 1970 and Apollo 13 blasts-off successfully on the US’s third mission to land on the Moon. Two days out and 200 000 miles from Earth, an oxygen tank ruptures, damaging other tanks and the spacecraft’s electrical system in the Command Module (CM) prompting the crew’s immortal lines ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’. For the three astronauts, the mission now is to return to Earth safely. Hollywood tells the story in the film Apollo 13, where Tom Hanks plays commander Jim Lovell.