Apollo XIII Related Links
 Apollo Mission Summary
Apollo Air-to-Ground Transcript
(the REAL DEAL)
Apollo 13 Cryo Data Screen Captures
Apollo 13 Review Board Findings
Grumman Aerospace's Towing Bill
Apollo XIII: The Movie
Additional Apollo 13 References
This FAQ is maintained by Anthony W. Haukap
The current version of this FAQ document can always be found on my website at:
While every attempt is made to present accurate data it should be noted that the author makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information provided in this document, and is not responsible for any consequences of its use.
An invoice arrived at the Houston office of North American Rockwell, the company that makes the Apollo command and service modules. It was from the Grumman Aerospace Corporation, builder of the lunar module, the moon-landing craft that turned unexpectedly into a "lifeboat" on the Apollo 13 flight.
The invoice was drawn up, tongue in cheek, by a Grumman consultant pilot, Sam Greenberg, on Wednesday evening. He did it during intervals in a test he was running at Grumman's Bethpage, L.I. plant in an exact duplicate of the Apollo 13 LM.
There also appears to be at least one other version of this invoice, most notable difference being the other version lists a 'confidential charges' and has a grand total of $412,421.24).
I recently received this email (below), that I think, goes a long way to explaining the origins of the "bill."
From: "D.Frasca@"
Date: Thu Aug 28 07:12 124/4644
Subject: Apollo 13 Invoice
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My name is Dennis Frasca and I feel a few things should be cleared up about the Invoice.
The Invoice was put together during lulls in testing
different flight tests coming from NASA and Houston, but there were many
of us who had and input. The start of the invoice came from a question
while sitting at a table in the Flight Control Integration Lab (FCI LAB.)
located in Grumman's Plant 5. This lab was part of major Full Mission
Engineering Simulator. The total simulation allowed for actual LM hardware
located in the FCI lab. to be tied together with LM simulator. Sam
Greenberg would then fly the simulator using the hardware. The lab was in
operation prior to the first earth orbit checkout of the LM. Now back to
the Invoice, the question was based on the triple A motor club of helping
with road side car service on what would be the towing charge if it was a
car. The more we discussed it, the more others in the lab had something
to add. I was sitting directly across from Sam and was the one discussing
the Triple A towing charge with Sam. Sam did get it typed up on a Grumman
Purchase Request which we held until Apollo 13 crew were safe on board the
carrier. Sam was also the one who let out the news of the invoice for
which I believe he was fired for all of 2 hours until Lou Evans then
president of Grumman reinstated him and signed the Invoice. By that time
everybody realized that the Invoice was a way of reducing the high stress
levels we all had been under.
I presently have a copy of the original unsign (by Lou Evans) invoice.
At that period of time I was Group leader for the technical staff that
supported all of the simulators and the FCI lab.
If you need any additional information you can contact me at work.
Phone: [removed]
Email: [removed]
Yours truly,
Dennis Frasca
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