What happened to Apollo 13 and did the astronauts survive?

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. On 17 April, nearly exactly six days after the mission began, the astronauts fell back through the Earth's atmsosphere and arrived safely back on Earth. But hours later, television stations around the world were giving rolling updates on the mission's status, following closely as the astronauts and Nasa engineers back on Earth tried to save them from disaster. After two days of flight, one of the Nasa staff in mission control joked the astronauts that the spacecraft was in such good shape that they were "bored to tears". They were picked up and all three completed a journey whose legacy – one of inventiveness and luck that became mission control's greatest achievement – is still celebrated by Nasa today.