Apollo 13 mission to land on the Moon. The astronauts' mission insignia was sculpted as a medallion depicting "Steeds of Apollo" by Lumen Martin Winter and was struck by the Franklin Mint. The Apollo 13 mission was to explore the Fra Mauro formation, or Fra Mauro highlands, named after the diameter Fra Mauro crater located within it. It is a widespread, hilly selenological area thought to be composed of ejecta from the impact that formed Mare Imbrium. The next Apollo mission, Apollo 14, eventually made a successful flight to Fra Mauro. April 14, 1970 UTC (April 13, 21:07:53 CST) April 15, 1970,
Apollo program in December 1968, crewed by McDivitt, Scott and Schweickart, launched on a Saturn V instead of two Saturn IBs. In the summer it had become clear that the LM would not be ready in time. Rather than waste the Saturn V on another simple Earth-orbiting mission, ASPO Manager George Low suggested the bold step of sending Apollo 8 to orbit the Moon instead, deferring the D mission to the next mission in March 1969, and eliminating the E mission. This would keep the program on track. The Soviet Union had sent two tortoises, mealworms, wine flies, and other lifeforms around