Five Times Apollo Almost Lost Its Crew

On November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 climbed into rain clouds over Florida and was struck by lightning twice in its first minute. It was not the only time Apollo came within seconds of losing a crew. This video follows five close calls in the order they happened: Snoopy tumbling out of control above the Moon on Apollo 10, the computer alarms and the long hunt for a landing spot on Apollo 11, the lightning on Apollo 12, the engine vibration and the oxygen tank explosion on Apollo 13, and the poison gas that filled the very last Apollo cabin on the way home from Apollo-Soyuz in 1975. It starts with the one time Apollo did kill its crew, the Apollo 1 fire, and ends with the question that ties all five together: why did no one die? CHAPTERS 0:00 Struck by lightning 1:34 The one that did: Apollo 1 3:06 Snoopy goes wild: Apollo 10 5:07 Twelve oh two: Apollo 11 7:43 Struck twice: Apollo 12 9:56 Twice in one flight: Apollo 13 13:24 The last splashdown: Apollo-Soyuz 15:33 Why no one died SOURCES Apollo 204 Review Board, findings (Apollo 1): https://www.nasa.gov/history/Apollo20... NASA History, "55 Years Ago: The Apollo 1 Fire and Its Aftermath": https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years... Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo 10 Day 5, "A surprise at staging": https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap10fj... MSC Apollo 10 Final Flight Evaluation Report: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploa... NASA History, "50 Years Ago: Charlie Brown and Snoopy in Lunar Orbit": https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years... Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, "The First Lunar Landing": https://apollojournals.org/alsj/a11/a... Don Eyles, "Tales from the Lunar Module Guidance Computer": https://www.doneyles.com/LM/Tales.html Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo 12 launch: https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap12fj... Apollo Flight Journal, "The Lightning Strike": https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap12fj... NASA MSC-01540, Analysis of Apollo 12 Lightning Incident: https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap12fj... Apollo 13 Mission Report: https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap13fj... Report of Apollo 13 Review Board: https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap13fj... Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo 13 "Houston, we've had a problem": https://apollojournals.org/afj/ap13fj... NASA History, "Houston, We've Had a Problem": https://www.nasa.gov/history/houston-... NASA JSC-10638, Apollo Soyuz Mission Anomaly Report No. 1 (toxic gas): https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/1... NASA SP-411, The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Medical Report: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19770... NASA SP-4209, The Partnership, ch. 11: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploa... CREDITS & LICENCES Photographs: NASA (images.nasa.gov, NASA JSC, NASA KSC, NASA MSFC, NASA GRIN) - public domain. Two photos via the Apollo Flight Journal (NASA/KSC lightning photo KSC-69PC-812; John Aaron at his console) - NASA, public domain. Steve Bales, August 1969: The Fremont Gazette, via Wikimedia Commons (File:Steve_bales.jpg) - CC0. Documents: NASA SP-350 "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon" (1975), p. 212; NASA MSC memo signed John R. Garman (1971, archive.org MemoGarman710312); Report of Apollo 13 Review Board (1970); NASA JSC-10638 (1975) - NASA, public domain. Archival film (NASA, public domain, via archive.org): "Apollo 12: Pinpoint for Science" (JSC-536); Apollo 1 F.A.C.T.S. compilation (JSC-1592A); "Flight of Apollo 7" (JSC-498); Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 16mm onboard film; "Apollo 13: Houston, We've Got a Problem" (1970, National Archives); "The Apollo-Soyuz Mission" (1975). Original sound removed. Music: The Grey Room / Density & Time - "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly", "Pulsar", "Red Shift", "Laniakea" (YouTube Audio Library, no attribution required). No AI-generated images are used in this video. All photos and film are real archival material. If you'd like more stories from the space archives, subscribe to Orbital Archive.