Apollo 13 Gets Another Houston Moment at NASA — a New Monument Debunks Plenty of Myths

The Greatest Successful Failure in Space History

BY Nicole Betts // 04.09.21

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Life-size bronze sculptures of astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise, and the late Jack Swigert of the Apollo 13 mission at NASA Johnson Space Center. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and director Seven Barber came up with the idea for the Apollo 13 sculptures after creating the Apollo 11 monument celebrating the first man to walk on the moon. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

The 1,400-pound, 7-foot-tall gold-bronze statues were created by Colorado-based sculptors and brothers George and Mark Lundeen, who collaborated with artist Joey Bainer. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

The Apollo 13 sculpture is the center’s newest addition to Rocket Park, as part of its NASA Tram Tour experience. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

Although Apollo 13 was a failed mission, it turned out to be a great success story, because NASA controllers worked around the clock for more than five days to ensure the crew’s survival and safe return. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

The Apollo 13 spaceflight was the third mission to land on the moon in 1970. An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks caused the spacecraft to perform an emergency landing.

Life-size bronze sculptures of astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise, and the late Jack Swigert of the Apollo 13 mission at NASA Johnson Space Center. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and director Seven Barber came up with the idea for the Apollo 13 sculptures after creating the Apollo 11 monument celebrating the first man to walk on the moon. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

The 1,400-pound, 7-foot-tall gold-bronze statues were created by Colorado-based sculptors and brothers George and Mark Lundeen, who collaborated with artist Joey Bainer. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

Although Apollo 13 was a failed mission, it turned out to be a great success story, because NASA controllers worked around the clock for more than five days to ensure the crew’s survival and safe return. (Photo by Warwick Adventures)

“Houston, we’ve had a problem,” is the famous line actually spoken by astronaut John Swigert during the Apollo 13 spaceflight, the third mission to land on the moon in 1970. An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks caused the spacecraft to perform an emergency landing.

Life-size bronze sculptures of astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise and the late Jack Swigert capture this historical moment at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The finished Apollo 13 monument leaves quite an impression.

Filmmaker, producer and director Steven Barber, who mainly does military movies, had the idea to build the Apollo 12 sculptures. He also created the Apollo 11 monument in July 2019, celebrating the first man on the moon. But the Apollo 13 monument means even more to him in many ways.

“To be able to build the Apollo 13 Monument — the greatest successful failure in the history of Apollo — and bring the crew of Apollo 13 home forever to Houston and literally change the phraseology to ‘Houston, we no longer have a problem’ is above and beyond anything I ever thought of,” Barber tells PaperCity.

At 1,400 pounds, the 7-foot-tall gold-bronze statues were created by Colorado-based sculptors and brothers George and Mark Lundeen, who collaborated with artist Joey Bainer. The three also worked on “The Eagle has Landed,” the Apollo 11 statues honoring astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Although Apollo 13 was a flawed mission, it turned out to be a great success story, because NASA controllers worked around the clock for more than five days to ensure the crew’s survival and safe return.

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“It was really quite humbling and gratifying to see the monuments get installed,” Barber tells PaperCity. “I was able to see the start-to-finish vision that I had in my head turn into a masterpiece.”

The Apollo 13 sculpture is the NASA Space Center’s newest addition to Rocket Park, part of the NASA Tram Tour experience. Anyone can visit NASA Johnson Space Center to see the statues. You can find more information here.