'Apollo 13' returned to Earth on this day
US lunar spacecraft 'Apollo 13' returned to Earth safely on April 17, 1970, after suffering a malfunction on its journey to the moon. The mission was commanded by James A Lovell with John L Swigert as Command Module Pilot and Fred W Haise as Lunar Module Pilot. It was the third manned lunar landing mission launched on April 11, 1970.