Ken Mattingly Quotes in Apollo 13 (1995)

Ken Mattingly: 13, this is Houston, do you read?

Jim Lovell: Roger that, Ken. Are the flowers blooming in Houston?

Ken Mattingly: That's a negative, Jim. I do not have the measles.

[stares at the flight surgeon]

Jack Swigert: [about to turn power back on in the capsule] Ken, there's an awful lot of condensation on these panels. What's the story of them shorting out?

Ken Mattingly: Umm... We'll just have to take that one at a time, Jack.

Jack Swigert: [to himself] Like trying to drive a toaster through a car wash.

Reporter: So... the number 13 doesn't bother you?

Fred Haise, Sr.: Only if it's a Friday, Phil.

Reporter: Apollo 13 - lifting off at 1300 hours and 13 minutes, and, entering the moon's gravity on April 13th.

Jim Lovell: Uh, Ken Mattingly has been doing some... scientific experiments regarding that very phenomenon, haven't you?

Ken Mattingly: Well, uh, yes, well I uh, had a black cat walk over a broken mirror under the lunar module ladder, didn't seem to be a problem.

Fred Haise, Sr.: We also consider a real helpful letter we got from a fellow who said we ought to take a pig up with us for good luck.

[Swigert has just successfully powered up the Command Module]

Jack Swigert: Uplink completed. We got her back up, Ken. Boy, I wish you were here to see it.

Ken Mattingly: I'll bet you do.

Ken Mattingly: [after another power-up simulation fails] I know this sequence works, John.

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: The sequence looks good, we're just over budget on the amperage.

Ken Mattingly: By how much?

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: Three or four amps.

Ken Mattingly: Goddamn it, John! Is it three or four?

John Young: Four.

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: Four!

Ken Mattingly: [sighs] Four more amps...

[He ponders for a moment]

Ken Mattingly: We know they have some power left in the LEM batteries, right?

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: Yeah.

Ken Mattingly: We have an umbilical that provides power from the Command Module to the LEM.

John Young: Right. It's a backup for the LEM power supply.

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: I'm listening.

Ken Mattingly: So, reverse it. Reverse the flow and see if we can draw these four amps from the LEM batteries before we cut it loose. Why can't we do that?

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: [Looks at John] We don't have a procedure for that, do we?

John Young: You're gonna lose a lot in the transfer, Ken.

Ken Mattingly: Yeah, yeah. But all we're talking about here is four amps.

Ken Mattingly: Here's the order of what I want to do. I want to power up Guidance, E.C.S., Communications, warm up the pyros for the parachutes and the command module thrusters.

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: The thrusters are gonna put you over budget on amps, Ken.

Ken Mattingly: Well, they've been sitting at two hundred below for four days, John. They've got to be heated.

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: Fine. Then trade off the parachutes, something.

Ken Mattingly: Well, if the chutes don't open, then what's the point?

John Aaron, EECOM Arthur: Ken, you're telling me what you need. I'm telling you what we have to work with at this point.

[Taken off the crew for a viral infection]

Ken Mattingly: Well, I... damn. Medical guys. I had a feeling when they started doing all the blood tests that I... I mean I know it's their asses if I get sick up there but I mean JESUS!

Ken Mattingly: Uh, one more thing, Jim. While Jack is working on the power-up, we'd like you and Freddo to transfer some ballast over to the command module.

Jim Lovell: Say again, Houston? Ballast?

Ken Mattingly: That's affirm. We want to get the weight right, we were expecting you to be toting a couple hundred pounds of moon rocks.

Jim Lovell: [flatly] Right, Houston...