Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard for April 12, 2020

I need to get out my DVD of “Apollo 13” and watch it, then!

All of the triskaidekaphobes are feeling quite smug right now.

They always cite that 13:13 launch time, but at the point of launch in Florida the time was 14:13 EST.

Unlike all the billions of other times 13 wasn’t associated with disaster or disasters weren’t associated with 13.

I remember reading that a modern laptop has much more computing power than Apollo 13’s entire system—and that was about 20 years ago. Today we can’t appreciate how tough it was for them, and how limited their resources were.

That one guy looks a lot like Tom Hanks.

Note to future astronauts – flammable Teflon shouldn’t be used near oxygen in space.

So, if they had launched on the 14th, everything would have been okay.

I was twenty, in college, and had such faith in NASA that I knew it would be a cinch to get them back safely.

It wasn’t until I saw the film that I realized how much danger they were in.

Well, at least it wasn’t a Friday the 13th.

“A successful failure.” :)

I remember when it happened thinking it was just like any other problem they had encountered, one they could work around like they always did. It took a bit before it sunk in how serious the problem was, and the full story did not come out till after they were back. (not because it was hidden but because the public really could not grasp it right away)

Why must it so often be crises that bring out the best in people? :-(

I met Frederick Gregory, the first black space shuttle commander, and he stated that the movie Apollo 13 was so technically accurate it could be used as a training video.

Props for the use of “treskaidekaphobia.”

…sixty years earlier mankind couldn’t even fly…we seem more on schedule, now…

From Mercury to the ISS, it’s been an amazing journey. I hope it never ends. It’s not without its dangers, but overcoming problems is the heart of any endeavor.

Apollo 13, launched at 13:13 on Friday the 13th? I’d say that’s tempting fate.

Nothing to worry about. They had wire and duct tape.

Think of how limited their repair kits must have been. Whose idea was it to include duck tape and for what original purpose? A guy thing?

None of this would have happened if Elon had been in charge.

That would be “life or death”, not “life and death” problems.

Triskaidekaphobia: fear of 13

Almost makes you superstitious.

How far we have come: an endeavor to reach the moon goes wrong and dedicated experts put together a rescue mission and save the crew. Today the president announces a return to the moon to mine resources we are exhausting on Earth while he excuses shortcomings in a pandemic. Happy trails!

At first I thought I was looking at Ripley’s Believe it or Not until I saw that one of the facts was wrong! I happen to know that Tom Hanks was one of the astronauts and this strip didn’t even mention him! Duh!