Fifty Years Ago Today - Apollo 13 on the Iwo Jima

James Lovell is on deck minutes after arriving, with Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, Commander of Task Force 130, the manned spacecraft recovery group.

Apollo 13 recovery copter landing on Iwo Jima

Lovell & Swigert Exit Recovery Copter

Swigert & Haise Exit Recovery Copter

Haise & Lovell leaving carrier.

Swigert Leaving Carrier

Fifty years ago on 17 April Robert Gillette happened to be in the right place at the right time, aboard the USS Iwo Jima, the Apollo 13 prime recovery ship.

In this image and other in this set, James Lovell is on deck minutes after arriving, with Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, Commander of Task Force 130, the manned spacecraft recovery group.

Robert Gillette told us he heard James Lovell say to Donald C. Davis as they met, "Thank God for Grumman," Grumman was the company that built the lunar lander.

Robert went on to write “The images here are mine, using a borrowed Nikon, digitized from slides. Some of the expressions here -- for instance, the grim set of Swigert's face as he leaves the recovery copter -- strike me as more natural and transparent than NASA's official images.

Just thought it would be good to share after all this time.”

Copyright: Robert Gillette

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