WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Commander Philip Eldredge Jerauld (at microphone), ship's chaplain for U.S.S. Iwo Jima, offers a prayer of thanks for the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew members soon after they arrived aboard the recovery ship. Standing in the center of the picture, from the left, are astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., Commander; Fred W. Haise Jr., Lunar Module Pilot; and John L. Swigert Jr., Command Module Pilot. The Apollo 13 Command Module "Odyssey" splashed down at 12:07:44 p.m. (CST), April 17, 1970, to conclude safely a perilous space flight. The three astronauts were picked up by helicopter and flown to the U.S.S. Iwo Jima. Standing at left is Captain Leland E. Kirkemo, Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Iwo Jima. Standing behind the chaplain, almost obscured, is Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, Commanding Officer of Task Force 130, the Pacific Recovery Force for the Manned Spacecraft Missions.