On April 13, 1970, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were hurtling along in the Apollo 13 spacecraft, on America's fifth mission to the moon, when a mysterious explosion rocked the ship. The cockpit grew dim, the air grew thin, and the instrument lights winked out. Moments later, the astronauts were forced to abandon the main for the tiny lunar module, designed to keep two men alive for just two days. But there were now three men aboard, and they were four days from home. As the action shifts from the disabled ship to the frantic engineers at Mission Control to Lovell's anxious family, Apollo 13 brilliantly recreates the harrowing, heroic rescue mission in all its drama and glory.