Final answer:
During the Apollo 13 mission, astronauts faced a severe challenge when an oxygen tank exploded, but they ingeniously survived by repurposing the Lunar Module.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Apollo 13 mission faced a significant crisis when an oxygen tank exploded on the spacecraft. The astronauts aboard, Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, had to handle numerous challenges after the explosion, which crippled their spacecraft's power supply and life support systems. The crew worked in conjunction with NASA's ground team to ingeniously convert the Lunar Module into a "lifeboat" to sustain them for the return trip to Earth. Critical problems such as removing carbon dioxide from the cabin, conserving water, and managing power shortages required collaboration and creative problem-solving. The astronauts' resilience and the mission control's ingenuity were pivotal in safely bringing the crew back home.
During the flight of Apollo 13, as well as in other Apollo missions, astronauts carried out extensive scientific exploration. They brought back lunar rock and soil samples and used moon buggies for exploration. The flights that did not land on the Moon, including Apollo 13, circled the Moon and contributed valuable information for future missions. Notably, Apollo 17, the last manned moon landing mission, included the unique perspective of a scientist-astronaut, geologist Jack Schmitt, providing a focused geological investigation of the lunar surface.