Thomas Kenneth “TK” Mattingly, who was withdrawn from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission but was instrumental in bringing the crew home safely through his ground control problem-solving efforts, died on October 31 at the age of 87.
After an explosion occurred aboard the spacecraft traveling to the moon without him, Mattingly had developed an energy-saving method from Earth that allowed the spacecraft to return safely to the atmosphere.
In doing so, Mattingly probably saved the lives of his astronaut colleagues James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise.
Mattingly was actually supposed to participate in the Apollo 13 moon mission as a command module pilot in 1970, but he had to cancel the flight just a few hours before takeoff due to illness. After Duke became ill, Swigert was briefly appointed to the main crew. Mattingly took over his position in the reserve team.
The event was filmed in the 1995 film ‘Apollo 13’, in which Mattingly was played by American actor Gary Sinise.
Mattingly caught up with Moonflight
By the way: Mattingly made his first space flight on April 16, 1972, as the command module pilot on Apollo 16. On the return trip from the moon, Mattingly left the Casper spacecraft for a so-called spacewalk – an additional onboard activity not yet planned for Apollo 13.
Source: Krone
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