Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Lucky 13: Survival in Space
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 8 to 10
Boyds Mills Press, 2008 ISBN: 978-1590785577
In the 1960's the world went wild about all the advances that were being made in space exploration. When the members of the Apollo 11 team landed on the moon for the first time in 1969, millions of people all over the world watched their televisions or listened to their radios to find out how the mission was going.
In 1970 the Apollo 13 mission was sent up into space for another visit to the moon. Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were the crew members, and all three men looked forward to walking on the moon. Two days after leaving Earth, on April 13th, the crew began to prepare for the moon landing. After successfully docking the Command and Service Modules to the Lunar Module something went wrong. There was an explosion and oxygen began pour of the hole in the Service Module. One oxygen tank was destroyed, and the Command Module batteries had also been affected by the explosion. The men were going to be low on oxygen and power. Somehow they had to find a way to get their crippled spacecraft home.
Most people know about the Apollo 11 mission that put a man on the moon for the first time, but not many people know about Apollo 13's nearly catastrophic mission. This beautifully illustrated and carefully researched book serves as a fitting tribute to the three men who managed to get back to Earth despite very difficult circumstances. The author not only tells the story of this extraordinary real-life space adventure, but he also provides readers with plenty of additional information about the space program, the people mentioned in the story and more.
