Goofs for
Apollo 13 (1995) More at IMDbPro »

• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The film contains an explicit notice that "certain characters and events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes", so these changes are not goofs. For instance, the Lovells did not host a party during the Apollo 11 landing; Ken Mattingly was already at Mission Control when the Apollo 13 accident happened, and was not really the person who devised the power-up procedure. There are various other minute contradictions of history and the film is prey to a large number of factual errors due to the large volume of documentary footage/evidence from the actual event. This is not a documentary.
  
  
• Factual errors: After the party, Lovell holds his thumb in front the gibbous moon. Then, telling Marilyn where to find "her" mountain, he says the Sea of Tranquility is "where the shadow crosses the white part." The terminator was in fact near the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, but the moon was less than half full; it's depicted in the scene as gibbous, with the terminator on the other side.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Jim Lovell is standing in his garden looking at the moon (one eye closed) he covers and uncovers the moon (from his perspective) with his thumb. Since the moon was the only light source in this situation, the shadow of his thumb would have to be shading his eye. But the third person perspective shows the thumb's shadow elsewhere.
  
  

• Factual errors: The seas are the dark parts.
  
  
• Factual errors: In Houston the moon set that night at about midnight CDT, while the Apollo 11 astronauts were returning to their Lunar Module; hence it would not be visible after the party at the Lovells'.
  
  
• Anachronisms: NASA's "worm" logo was not developed until 1975.
  
  
• Anachronisms: A technician is wearing a Rockwell International logo on his coveralls. North American Rockwell became Rockwell International only in 1973 when they acquired Collins Radio.
  
  
• Factual errors: The launch tower was on the north side of the Saturn V. If Mattingly was watching from east of the pad near the beach, then he would see it on the right.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: The downward view toward the rocket rising from the pad shows cars in the parking lots. During an actual launch, the pad was completely evacuated and the lots would have been empty.
  
  
• Continuity: Houston confirms that the BPC (Boost Protective Cover) is cleared before it is jettisoned by Lovell. The BPC was attached to the launch escape tower and was pulled away when the tower was jettisoned.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In April 1970, Lovell's daughter can be seen holding the Beatles' "Let it Be" album, which wasn't released until May 1970.
  
  
• Continuity: When Apollo 13 is due for re-entry we briefly see Gene Krantz with a fastened collar and tie. A minute or so later he is seen fastening his collar and tightening his loose tie.
  
  
• Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, Jim Lovell comes home with some champagne and greets Jack Sweigert and his date for the evening, Tracy. When Jack starts telling Tracy about some of the things Jim's done, she says, "Wow," with her hands clasped up by her chest. In the next shot, her hands are clasped down by her waist.
  
  
• Continuity: Just after the explosion, when Lovell is saying "we've got multiple caution and warnings, Houston," the MET clock (Mission Elapsed Time in hours, minutes, and seconds) is plainly visible reading 091:34:10. When next seen less than a minute later, it has backed up to 056:55:12.
  
  
• Factual errors: The actual explosion took place at MET (Mission Elapsed Time) 055:54:53, a full hour before the time shown.
  
  
• Factual errors: The astronauts are shown looking at Mare Tranquilitatis, then crossing from sunlight into shadow, followed by loss of signal, all within seconds. In fact at loss of signal they had been in the moon's shadow for some time and were nowhere near Mare Tranquilitatis.
  
  
• Factual errors: While passing over Tsiolkovsky crater on the moon's far side, the astronauts also speak of sighting Fra Mauro and Mare Imbrium, both nearly halfway around the moon.
  
  
• Factual errors: Just after acquisition of signal, Houston tells the astronauts that their speed is "approximately 7,062 feet per second" and their altitude above the moon is 56 nautical miles. That speed is 500 ft/s below lunar escape velocity at that altitude, hence impossible on a free return trajectory. In fact, any free return trajectory symmetrical about the moon-earth line would put them at over 100 nautical miles altitude at acquisition of signal.
  
  
• Factual errors: A TV scene at Mission Control shows Houston Astros player Jimmy Wynn hitting a home run on 13 April 1970. The Astros were shut out by the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 that day. The home run shown was hit 10 June 1967, in a game between Cincinnati and Houston, it was the longest in Crosley field history
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): As Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, Walter Cronkite says the Apollo 11 landing is 18 months after the tragic Apollo 1 launchpad fire. It was actually 30 months after.
  
  
• Anachronisms: "Mr. Coffee"-type drip pots weren't in use at the time.
  
  
• Continuity: A red ashtray and a paper cup in the control center disappear between shots.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The television that Blanch Lovell watches the final splashdown on is a Sharp model that was not made until the late 1980s.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In the opening sequence with Apollo 1, the crew uses a black keyboard (Block II). The keyboard on Apollo 1 was white (Block I).
  
  
• Factual errors: In the opening scene, where the Apollo 1 crew is walking across the swing arm, the Service Module is incorrectly shown as a Block II Service Module (grey w/ white areas); Apollo 1, Serial Number 012, was a Block I Spacecraft - its Service Module was all-white, like the toy spacecraft Lovell shows his son later in the movie.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Apollo 1 fire DID NOT initiate with a switch throw, as this movie depicts. During the Accident Investigation, this was a possibility which was dismissed after a thorough investigation.
  
  
• Factual errors: The mating of launch vehicle stage components was a much more delicate and deliberate process that this movie depicts. Tours, even for high-level VIPs, would most likely be suspended while such operations were in progress. For the scene where the Third Stage is being lowered onto the Second Stage, a retractable work platform, curved to fit around the Second Stage, would have been in place just below the Upper Field Joint (top of Second Stage). Numerous hard-hatted workers, most on their knees, would have been on the edge of this platform, making sure that the two stages were in correct alignment for mating.
  
  
• Factual errors: This Movie incorrectly depicts the Apollo 13 Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle as being delivered to the Launch Pad on April 9, 1970 - two (2) days before launch. Much more "pad time" was required, and Apollo 13 was actually delivered to Launch Pad 39A on December 15, 1969.
  
  
• Factual errors: Notwithstanding that this movie used dramatic license to make a better story, a few points should be clarified, particularly concerning the portrayals of Astronaut Fred Haise and the Grumman Corporation: Fred Haise was considered one of the best and brightest of his group (1966); the scenes where he gives Swigert a dirty look in the Simulator, blames Swigert for the Accident, and nearly screws up the course correction maneuver are not supported by any historical account available to this contributor. Grumman Corporation Personnel worked as hard as anyone else on the team to bring the Apollo 13 Crew home safely; the display of "no can do" attitude shown in the movie is not supported by any historical account available to this contributor. This movie also neglects the contributions of Astronaut Charlie Duke; by the time of the Accident, he was no longer contagious but still feeling unwell. He got out of his sick bed to help devise new Lunar Module Procedures, just as Ken Mattingly is shown doing for the Command Module - in fact, Duke helped devise the course correction maneuver in the Lunar Module Simulator.
  
  
• Factual errors: Apollo 13 incorrectly shown going around the Moon with Lunar Module (LM) (Aquarius) Landing Legs still folded. These had to be extended before the Descent Propulsion System (DPS) could be fired, which had been done (for the first of three times) many hours before. Once extended, the legs could not be retracted.
  
  
• Anachronisms: During the TV Show just prior to the Accident, Fred Haise uses the term "Lunar Excursion Module", a term obsolete by 1970.
  
  
• Continuity: During the re-entry simulation with Swigert, Fred Haise communicates with Houston after they confirmed radio blackout.
  
  
• Continuity: Shortly after lift-off, as the crew are removing their gloves and helmets. In the first shot, Swigert is seen removing his gloves and glove liners. The next shot shows Swigert removing his helmet while still wearing his white glove liners.
  
  
• Factual errors: In some cold scenes in the LEM, breath is visible. The warm breath rises, which wouldn't happen in a weightless environment.
  
  
• Continuity: When Mattingly goes to bed and takes the phone off the hook, the position of the receiver is different when he is woken up.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: A bearded crew member is visible in the lower right corner of the screen towards the end of the movie, about the time Jack jettisons the service module.
  
  
• Continuity: Before Gene Kranz calls for people to "Listen Up People" in mission control, we see Deke Slayton move from the back row to CAP COM row 3 times.
  
  
• Audio/visual unsynchronized: News reporters outside of Lovell's home during landing voices are out of synch with the video (observed on the IMAX version.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When the astronauts are standing in the moving elevator, the reflection in their helmets is of the stationary elevator.
  
  
• Continuity: At the end of the film, Gene Kranz sits down in his chair and puts his hand to his head. A few seconds later, in the shot showing Ken Mattingly, Kranz can be seen in the background sitting down again in the same manner.
  
  
• Continuity: Shortly before re-entry, a NASA worker says, " Velocity now reading 34,802 feet per second, range to go 26,025 nautical miles," and Gene Kranz has his top button done up and his tie pulled up. Before and after this shot, Kranz's shirt and tie are undone.
  
  
• Continuity: Jack Swigert's "NO" sign is briefly seen on the instrument panel before he actually puts it there.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When Marilyn Lovell is standing in front of the sliding glass door in her kitchen, a crew member is briefly visible on the left side of the window.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: "Houston, we have a problem," is probably the world's most known misquote. After the bang, the conversation was as follows. Swigert: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here." Jack Lousma: "This is Houston. Say again please." Lovell: "Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt." However, this was a deliberate change suggested by Tom Hanks to better convey the sense of urgency in the scene.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the trip to the moon, a full moon and a full earth can be seen from the windows of the shuttle. If the spaceship was between the earth and the moon, it would not have been possible to see the "full phases" of the earth and the moon at the same time. One of the two would have to have the shadow dark side facing the spacecraft.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The controller giving the typhoon prediction for the landing area can be seen holding a full color satellite picture of the region. There were no color satellite pictures at the time - especially not in (near) real time.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: At approx. 17:47, there is a photo session. The Hasselblad 500 camera used is out of film. It is shown by the red arc on the film magazine. A camera with all film unexposed should view a "metallic" arc, rather than a red one.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The USS New Orleans (a stand-in for the USS Iwo Jima) is shown with CIWS (Close In Weapons System) that was not in commission until 1977 when tested on the USS Bigelow.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: When the astronauts are getting their suits put on for the launch, someone asks Swigert "Do you need more air?" Swigert shakes his head. As the camera zooms in slowly, a reflection of three crew members can be seen in his helmet.
  
  
• Factual errors: The Mission Clock is not supposed to start until the Saturn V rocket lifts off the launch pad.
  
  
• Continuity: The drawing Kranz makes on the chalkboard change shape between scenes.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: The orientation of the spacecraft during the mid-course correction burn is not consistent to what the crew was seeing out of the Lunar Module's windows.
  
  
• Continuity: When CapCom Andy says "Roger Odyssey, we copy your venting." the shot ends with him sitting down. Immediately following this, there is a closer shot of him sitting down again.
  
  
• Continuity: In the shot over Fred Haise's shoulder he is reading the letter and looking at the pictures of Mary, you see him fold up the letter and place it and the pictures in the green envelope. In the next shot when Lovell grabs the floating picture of Mary, you see Haise folding the letter again and putting it in the envelope again.
  
  
• Anachronisms: Several scenes show a Lockheed-Martin coffee mug on flight director Krantz's desk. Lockheed Martin was not formed until 1995 with the merger of Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the TV transmission prior to the accident, the crew did in fact play the "Zarathrustra" theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey" as intended. The tape was not switched by Fred Haise as depicted in the film.
  
  
• Errors in geography: Whilst on the way back to Earth, a view out of a window shows the Moon with around 50% of the far side showing. Only a small percentage of the far side should be visible at that point. When flying over the Moon, Haise looks down at the surface and says "Sea of Tranquillity", when the view out of the window does not show the smooth plains of that area. The scene shown is a mountainous area with a curving rille running though it; it is actually the Apollo 15 landing site at Hadley Rille.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Apollo 13 is swinging around the moon Fred Haise is looking at the lunar landscape and says "Sea of Tranquility - Neil and Buzz's old stomping grounds". The scene then shifts to show the view out the window and the lunar landscape that is shown is actually the Hadley Rille region, where Apollo 15 would land 2 years later. Besides, on a free return trajectory around the moon the Sea of Tranquility would not be visible while they were swinging around the far side of the moon (it is only visible on the near side of the moon).
  
  
• Factual errors: Before re-entry, the crew were informed that their course was shallowing because they did not have the lunar samples that would have been gathered if they had landed on the Moon. This is incorrect. Just as Galileo (and the Apollo 15 astronauts) showed that objects of different mass fall at the same rate in a vacuum, Apollo 13's trajectory wasn't affected by its mass. The actual cause was the lunar module cooling system that evaporated water into space, creating an unintended and small but significant thrust. Ballast WAS transferred to the CM to shift its center of gravity for proper aerodynamic lift and steering during the actual re-entry.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: The words "We have cleared the tower" are heard before the rocket has cleared the tower.
  
  
• Continuity: When the astronauts were building the makeshift lunar-module CO2 scrubber, Houston instructed to use the red-suit hoses but when the filter is in place, a blue end is seen (blue-suit hoses).
  
  
• Factual errors: The five F-1 engines do NOT start simultaneously as depicted. The center (inboard) engine starts first, followed by pairs at 200 millisecond intervals. Additionally, they're depicted as CO2 fire extinguishers. In reality the sequence began with a narrow stream of liquid oxygen falling through the combustion injectors.
  
  
• Factual errors: The swingarms connecting the launch vehicle to the tower do not come back one at a time as depicted. There are nine swingarms; four retract during the countdown. The last five retract simultaneously with first motion at T=0. As the crew walks across swingarm 9 to the White Room for boarding, swingarm 8 servicing the Service Module is missing. It correctly appears in other shots of the Saturn V.
  
  
• Anachronisms: During the scene where Jim and Marilyn are driving along in the Corvette, several late models (1990's) of vehicles can be seen in the background, in lieu of attempts made to blur them out.
  
  
• Continuity: During the liftoff scene, we see the astronauts jolted in their seats before the engines have ignited.
  
  
• Factual errors: Lovell says "If I'm in the left-hand seat when the call comes up, *I* stir the tanks." The cryo tank switches and gauges were actually between the middle and right-hand seats where they could be reached by the lunar module pilot (Haise) in the right seat, acting as CSM flight engineer, monitoring power and environmental systems. The left seat controls and displays were for real-time piloting.
  
  
• Factual errors: During the launch, frozen and chilled condensed air is seen around the Apollo/Saturn stack, due to the low temperature of the fuels inside. However chilled air is also seen around the Apollo Service Module, which is incorrect, and around the Lunar Module Adaptor, which is not a fuel tank.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Apollo 13 goes around the Moon and experiences loss of signal with Mission Control, they are also shown going into the Moon's shadow. This would only happen if the Moon's phase was full, which it wasn't.
  
  
• Errors in geography: When heading around the moon, we see the Earth about 50% lit on the left, so the Sun is to our left. Our perspective shifts to view the spacecraft starting to go around the Moon, incurring an almost 90% counter-clockwise rotation with respect to the Earth, in which case the Sun's position shifts to about the top of our view. Yet when we see the Moon, the left side is dark, where we would expect to see the dark side at the bottom of the screen, and certainly the light/dark line parallel to that of the Earth.
  
  
• Continuity: Twice in the film, 'Lovell' covers the moon with his left thumb. A different person's thumb is used in each as the nail and joint creases are quite different.
  
  
• Factual errors: When Lovell is giving a tour of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a woman asks him how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. Lovell says that Deke Slayton, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, could answer that question better than he could. However, at that time, Lovell had flown 3 missions and had spent more hours in space than any other human, while Slayton had never flown in space. After being named one of the original Mercury astronauts, Slayton was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia and grounded. He eventually flew in 1975 as part of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project, his first and only space flight.
  
  
• Factual errors: At 40 minutes into the film, we see a crescent moon. Apollo 13 then zooms from lower left into the center of the frame, straight toward the Moon. The engine glow dies and a voice-over announces S-IVB shutdown. While visually dramatic, TLI (translunar injection) always took place with the vehicle parallel to the local horizontal and on the opposite side of the earth from where the moon would be at arrival into lunar orbit.
  
  
• Factual errors: The TV camera in the CSM/LM did not have a viewfinder as depicted in the film. Nor did it have a red light to show it was on. A custom modified mini B&W monitor on the top of the camera allowed the astronauts to see where they were shooting. Such a device was used on the color camera in the CSM since Apollo 10.
  
  
• Continuity: When Swigert is given the request to stir the O2 tanks, as he is reaching for the switch, the scene changes to Sy Liebergot at his station suddenly looking at his screen with surprise and alarm as if the accident has already happened. The scene then changes back to Swigert continuing to reach for the switch, then activating the switch that results in the short circuit in the tanks and subsequent explosion.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the S-II center engine fails during launch, four engine status lights are on and the #5 light is flashing. The engine status lights are actually off for normal operation and on continuously when an engine malfunctions.
  
  
• Factual errors: When the Lunar Module is jettisoned, the docking probe is supposed to remain with the lunar module. Here it is seen still attached to the CM.
  
  
• Continuity: Early in the scene showing Jack's failed re-entry maneuver in the simulator, Jim Lovell says they're into program 64. But at the end of it, he says they were into program 67.
  
  
• Factual errors: Lovell is incorrectly shown taking off his space suit while Swigert is performing the Transpositon and Docking Maneuver. Due to the risk of a collision, all three astronauts would be fully suited for this maneuver. Note the transmission from Houstion just prior to this event: "We recommend you secure cabin pressurization at this time." This action is never done unless the crew is fully suited.
  
  
• Factual errors: According to Gene Kranz's book, Milt Windler was the actual flight director on console during 13's launch, and not Kranz as the film suggests.
  
  
• Factual errors: At the time of the Apollo 13 mission, Ken Mattingly was completely bald.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene where Slayton pulls up to Lovell to tell him there's a problem with the medical status of the crew, the crawler is taking the Saturn V rocket to the launch pad and rolling over marks in the dirt made from previous takes.
  
  
• Factual errors: In the film, Lovell suggests using the Cross hairs on the window of the CM and line it up with the terminator line of the earth as a procedure to navigate without the computer. This appears to be an idea "plucked out of the air" by Lovell, and Houston have to confer in order to see if it would work. In reality this procedure was practiced by Lovell on Apollo 8 in preparation for just such a malfunction of the computer and Houston had full procedural guidelines in place. The actual problem facing Lovell was the fact that because of no gravity the debris from the explosion was circulating the craft and was blocking the windows making the procedure very difficult.
  
  
• Factual errors: En route back to Earth an explosion occurs and the crew in an obvious state of alarm request confirmation that it was a "Helium Disc". The LEM had 2 chances for engine firing, one for landing and one for taking off. The gasses for ignition were forced together by helium (an inert gas). Upon shutting the valve the helium was trapped in the pipes and would expand. A pressure disc was placed in the pipes designed to blow at a set pressure. After firing the engines the crew would have been aware that the disc would be ready to blow. The crew were not concerned at this, however an unexpected explosion did occur which did cause concern. This was one of the batteries on the LEM, which luckily did not result in any further problems.
  
  
• Factual errors: Several times on the "outbound" portion of the flight, the Apollo spacecraft is seen heading directly towards the moon. If this happened in real life, they would miss the moon by tens of thousands of miles. Since it takes 4 days to get to the moon, they would have to be heading towards a point well ahead of where the moon was at the beginning of their flight. In other words, they have to aim towards where the moon is going to be in 4 days, and that would not be directly ahead of them.
  
  
• Anachronisms: In Jim Lovell's son's room, a toy airplane can be seen. The plane is a Cherokee, and the Cherokees that were built when the movie came out lacked the rear windows seen on the toy.
  
  
• Revealing mistakes: When Fred is vomiting, some of it lands on the camera.
  
  
• Continuity: A few seconds after the TV news bulletin comes on the air, Marilyn Lovell is seen talking on the phone demanding to know what is going on and it appears she has been on the phone for a while. She would have had no reason to call NASA until the TV bulletin came on and it would seem likely she would have listened to the bulletin for a minute or so, then called NASA.
  
  
• Anachronisms: The Mavericks band formed in 1989, 19 years after the Apollo 13 flight.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the wives/family/friends are making food in the kitchen and some salad is spilled on the floor, it is just scooped up and thrown on top of the still pristine salad in the bowl. Are they going to eat salad that's been on the floor or are they going to throw it all out, including what salad was left in the bowl and still fine?
  
  
• Factual errors: Jim Lovell's Corvette was depicted as red, when in fact it was blue. (According to Jim Lovell, Ron Howard thought a red one would play better in the movie.)
  
  
• Factual errors: During the mid course correction, the spacecraft is seen franticly steering towards earth as the engines are fired. This is how you would correct the course of an airplane or boat, not a spacecraft. The spacecraft would have been oriented so the thrust of the engines would be approximately 90 degrees from the intended course, and then the correction burn would have commenced. The view of Apollo 13 as you looked towards the earth would be of its side, not its engine.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: After Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) has drawn the diagram on the blackboard, he exclaims that 45 hours is not sufficient for the spacecraft to cover the distance between the Moon and the Earth (it is actually about 90 hours/4 days). John Young (Ben Marley) explains that the batteries would die out in 16 hours (and not 45 hours as was being presumed till then) at the current rate of consumption (60 Amps; Amperes, a measure of electric current). He suggests that the consumption be brought down to 12 Amps (about a fifth of the current consumption rate) by shutting down all non-critical systems in the spacecraft. It would be fair to deduce then, that: (i) The batteries would now last 5 times longer (about 16 * 5 = 80 hours), almost enough for the spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. (ii) The charge in the batteries was somewhere between 900 Ah and 1000 Ah (Ampere-Hour, a measure of charge in a battery); drawing 60 Amps from the battery for 16 hours would give 60 Amps * 16 hours = 960 Ah. However, when Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) enters the scene to simulate the re-entry procedures, John asks his team to keep an eye on the ammeter (used to measure the strength of current, and labeled AMPERES) in the simulator, such that the moving black pointer never crosses the 20 Amps notch (shown by the fixed red pointer). The 12 Amps benchmark was for the Lunar Module, giving the power requirements to get back towards Earth (at this point the Command Module was drawing zero Amps, as it was completely powered down). The 20 Amps were the power requirements for the Command Module, which were only required for the last few hours before re-entry. (The idea of reversing the umbilical flow between the two was to allow the LM power to be used to perform some of the intermediate steps for the CM start-up, since it was assumed that the LM batteries would have enough charge to do so after the prior power conservation steps taken, and to reduce the strain on the CM batteries.)
  
  
• Factual errors: During re-entry the astronauts are depicted without their full pressure suits. During re-entry it is standard operating procedure to be in their pressure suits in case of a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure. This actually happened to Russian Cosmonauts who died when a leaky valve de-pressurized their Soyuz Capsule. The Cosmonauts were asphyxiated.
  
  
• Factual errors: Near the point where earth re-entry was about to happen, a shot of the Command/Service Module and the Lunar Module shows the descent stage of the Lunar Module still attached. The fuel in the descent stage was used up earlier in the flight and the crew then relied on the engine and fuel in the ascent stage of the lunar module for the last part of the mission.
  
  
• Continuity: When Lovell and Haise are adding ballast, the video camera gets passed down twice.
  
  

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