Space History Photo: Mission Control Celebrates

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A celebration erupts at Mission Control after a successful splashdown of the Apollo 13 Odyssey on Apr. 17, 1970. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, three of the four Apollo 13 Flight Directors applaud the successful splashdown of the Command Module "Odyssey" while Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, Director, Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), and Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr., MSC Deputy Director, light up cigars (upper left). The Flight Directors are from left to right: Gerald D. Griffin, Eugene F. Kranz and Glynn S. Lunney.

Apollo 13 crew members, astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., Commander; John L. Swigert Jr., Command Module pilot, and Fred W. Haise Jr., Lunar Module pilot, splashed down on Apr. 17, 1970, at 12:07:44 (CST) in the South Pacific Ocean, approximately four miles from the Apollo 13 prime recovery ship, the U.S.S. Iwo Jima.

Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).

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