Apollo 11 as CMP, and Haise as LMP. Anders had flown with Lovell on Apollo 8. In early 1969, he accepted a job with the National Aeronautics and Space Council effective August 1969, and announced that he would retire as an astronaut at that time. Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup CMP in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch date, at which point Anders would be unavailable. Lovell, Haise, and Mattingly were later assigned as the prime crew of Apollo 13. During Projects Mercury and Gemini, each mission had
Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team The Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team worked at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas during the mission, and was responsible for all aspects of the Apollo 13 flight after it cleared the launch tower after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.. On April 18, 1970, the team was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard M. Nixon. They were awarded these because of their courage during their space mission to the moon. The award reads as follows: "We often speak of scientific "miracles"—forgetting that these are not miraculous happenings at