Fifty Years Ago: Apollo 13 and German Measles

Or, how a 3-year-old boy changed NASA’s plans for Apollo 13

The last few days before launch, Apollo crews typically finished up any last-minute training and also found time to get a little rest before the big day. Not so much with Apollo 13 … scheduled to lift off on April 11, 1970. As the prime crew of Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module (CM) Pilot Thomas K. “Ken” Mattingly and Lunar Module (LM) Pilot Fred W. Haise and backups John W. Young, John L. “Jack” Swigert and Charles M. Duke finished training, one astronaut’s illness exposed the rest to an infectious disease, resulting in an unprecedented change of crew members two days before launch. Meanwhile, on April 5 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, engineers began the extended countdown for the launch of Apollo 13, with the terminal countdown beginning April 10, preparing the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft for its launch and trip to the Moon. Initial steps included loading kerosene fuel into the rocket’s first stage and activating the Command and Service Module to begin the checkout of the spacecraft’s systems.

Left: Original Apollo 13 crew (left to right) of Fred Haise, James Lovell and Ken Mattingly pose in front of their Saturn V rocket. Right: The Apollo 13 Saturn V on the eve of the launch. Image Credits: NASA

After participating in the Countdown Demonstration Test on March 26, the astronauts resumed their training in the final two weeks before launch. Lovell, Haise, Young and Duke finished their final training for the lunar surface excursions, Young completed his last training flights in the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle and all spent time in the CM and LM simulators, reviewing procedures and the overall flight plan. They also maintained their flying skills during flights aboard T-38 Talon jets. However, the orderly sequence of events was disturbed when Duke fell ill on Sunday, April 5, just six days before the planned liftoff.

Left: Haise (left) and Lovell during spacewalk training at Kennedy. Right: Charles Duke (at left) and John Young train for a lunar surface excursion. Image Credits: NASA

Left: Lovell descends the stairs from the LM simulator at Kennedy. Middle: Haise inside the LM simulator at Kennedy. Right: Mattingly (left) and Lovell inside the CM simulator at Kennedy. Image Credits: NASA

Left: Lovell prepares for a training flight in a T-38. Middle: Haise prepares for a training flight in a T-38.  Right: Mattingly (left) and Jack Swigert share a lighthearted moment during training. Image Credit: NASA

Three weeks before the planned April 11 liftoff, backup LM Pilot Duke and his family spent time with friends whose 3-year-old son came down with German measles, also known as rubella, the following week. Because Duke didn’t have German measles as a kid, he lacked immunity against the rubella virus and caught the disease. Duke had trained together and attended meetings with the other five crew members up until Friday, April 3, while he was still contagious. During the crew members’ L-5 day physical exams on Monday, April 6, the flight surgeon collected blood samples and analyzed them to see if any of the astronauts had antibodies against rubella, although none except Duke exhibited any symptoms. The test results came back two days later with good news for Lovell and Haise, who had immunity probably from childhood exposures; but Mattingly … did not. Young and Swigert on the backup crew were also immune. Dr. Charles A. Berry, director of Medical Research and Operations at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, later renamed Johnson Space Center, was concerned that if Mattingly were to come down with German measles, given the incubation period of the virus, it would likely be around the time they were in lunar orbit — possibly while he was alone in the CM.  Symptoms such as fever, rash and headache could interfere with his ability to perform intricate maneuvers to rendezvous with Lovell and Haise in the LM as they returned from the Moon.

Left: Management meeting at Kennedy on April 10, during which the decision was made to swap Swigert for Mattingly. Right: Press conference on April 10 announces the crew swap decision. Image Credits: NASA

Apollo program managers now faced a dilemma. No one wanted a sick astronaut during a critical phase of the mission. One option was to delay the flight by 28 days to the next launch window, May 1970, which would allow a landing at the same Fra Mauro site with the same lighting conditions, but that was a costly proposition. Flying the entire backup crew was not an option, since Duke would still be symptomatic at launch time. The only solution that made sense was to ground Mattingly and fly Swigert in his place. 

The backup crew typically trains to be ready to fly the mission until about one month before launch, when the prime crew has almost exclusive access to the spacecraft simulators. While managers considered Swigert fully trained, he might have been a little rusty; thus, he began an intensive last-minute refresher training program on CM systems. Fortunately, over the past few years, Swigert had developed the CM malfunction procedures, so he knew that spacecraft’s systems probably better than any other astronaut. His proficiency satisfied managers that he could operate the spacecraft with no issues. 

Another concern raised was that Swigert hadn’t trained directly with Lovell and Haise, which left people wondering if the three could form a cohesive crew. During several simulator runs, the trio proved they could precisely execute intricate maneuvers as a team. Chief of Flight Operations Donald K. “Deke” Slayton agreed that Swigert was a proficient and well-integrated member of the crew, and that the safest course of action was to ground Mattingly and fly Swigert in his place. During a press conference on April 10, the day before liftoff, Thomas O. Paine, NASA administrator, announced the decision.

Left: Preflight meeting to discuss the crew change with (left to right) Deke Slayton, Lovell, Mattingly and Swigert. Right: The new Apollo 13 crew of (left to right) Swigert, Lovell and Haise. Image Credits: NASA

Left: Original plaque bearing Mattingly’s signature, mounted on the LM landing leg strut. Right: A replica of the replacement plaque bearing Swigert’s signature. Image Credits: NASA

And the story continues …