CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Apollo 13’s astronauts still shun superstition 50 years after their harrowing moonshot. Mission commander Jim Lovell and Fred Haise say they never gave a thought to their mission number as they blasted off for the moon on April 11, 1970. Their mission was aborted when an oxygen tank ruptured two days later, on April 13. The way Lovell sees it, he’s incredibly lucky to have survived and to be around at age 92 for the golden anniversary. Haise, who’s 86, regards Apollo 13 as NASA’s most successful failure. Their anniversary celebrations are on hold because of the pandemic. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Apollo 13’s best known quotes originated not in space or Mission Control, but in Hollywood. The astronauts urgently radioed, “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” when an oxygen tank wrecked their moon-bound spacecraft on April 13, 1970. Screenwriters for the 1995 film “Apollo 13” wanted to punch that up. Thus was born “Houston, we have a problem.” Even more artistic license was taken with NASA flight director Gene Kranz’ speech to his team in Houston. Kranz never declared, “Failure is not an option.” That, too, is a movie line. Kranz says he constantly finds himself setting the record straight. MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Two months ago, the Miami Beach Convention Center hosted tens of thousands of Super Bowl guests visiting the NFL’s traveling museum and interactive displays. Now it is being set up by the Army Corps of Engineers as a 450-bed overflow hospital in case South Florida facilities become overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the site Wednesday, saying the corps has told him it will be ready by April 21. That’s when models show the disease could be nearing its peak in the state. Almost 15,700 cases […]
