Discover the extraordinary story behind “The Manuals that Saved Apollo 13” in a special talk at the Space Vault Exhibition where these rare documents take centre stage.

This immersive event, hosted by The Space Vault  Exhibition Curator, Dr. Michael Warner, will be brought to life through the state-of-the-art visuals and sound of the Thinktank Planetarium.

In April 1970, an oxygen tank explosion left Apollo 13 crippled and adrift nearly 200,000 miles from Earth. As NASA raced against time to bring the astronauts home, a set of exceptionally rare flight manuals became the key to their survival. These original documents — now a centrepiece of The Space Vault  Exhibition — guided the life-saving decisions that brought the crew safely back to Earth.

Guests attending the talk will also have the opportunity to explore the exhibition before the event, with the manuals on display alongside other items.

The Space Vault  Exhibition features a remarkable collection of objects tracing the story of human spaceflight, from the Apollo and Soviet eras to the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and SpaceX. The Exhibition is one of the UK’s largest private collections of space artefacts, on display to the public for a limited time.