Hans Remembers- Thursday April 9, 1970- 50 Years Ago-

• Only a few days before the scheduled liftoff of Apollo 13- command module pilot Ken Mattingly was removed from the crew and replaced by the backup- John Swigert Jr. A pre-launch physical examination showed that Mattingly had contacted German measles after exposure to the disease from another member of the back up crew- Charles Duke- who had contacted the disease from one of his children. It had to be a huge disappointment at the time for Mattingly. Of course Apollo 13 is the unlucky 13 that had its problems-[ will cover that soon} Mattingly would eventually go up as command module pilot on Apollo 16. Mattingly is still living-84 years old.