Apollo 13, Thirty Years Later

On June 30th, 1995, the movie Apollo 13 opened nationwide and was the #1 film for four weeks. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two. Apollo 13 was based on astronaut Jim Lovell's book Lost Moon, although the movie rights were sought before he even wrote it. Lovell was the commander of the real Apollo 13 mission in 1970, in which an oxygen tank blew up and the crew miraculously made it back to earth. Even though everyone knew how it turned out, the story was made for the big screen. 

Few movies hold up as well as Apollo 13 thirty years later, but it was a period piece based on historical events rendered with astonishing accuracy. For example, scenes of weightlessness were filmed on the KC-135 "Vomit Comet" because it was actually cheaper than recreating the effects on a sound stage. But it wasn't as thoroughly accurate as the memories of some at NASA. Director Ron Howard did take a few liberties with the story, in order to streamline the plot and keep the cast of characters to a manageable level. Read about those liberties, as well as the memories of some of those involved, and learn about the quote that didn't happen and its effects on NASA, at Ars Technica.