An electrical problem aboard the Apollo 13 yesterday , ruled out its moon landing attempt and use an emergency system to return to earth . Astronauts James Lovell (centre) . Fred Haise (right) and Jack Swigert , shown in picture taken on 9th April will crowd into the two-man lander , swing around the back side of the moon , then fire the lander's descent engines to blast into a homeward route. Mission Control maintains that the astronauts were in no immediate danger despite the serious electrical fialure and an oxygen leak in the command module 14th April 1970