EDITORIAL INFORMATION

If Apollo-11 landing on the Moon was NASA's greatest triumph, the safe return of the crew of Apollo-13 was its finest hour. Included is a complete recreation of the flight of Apollo-13 using 3-D animation, original artwork, historic photos, video and audio recordings. Listen in on the Flight Controllers as they struggle to bring the crippled spacecraft back to Earth. Short of water, oxygen and electrical power; Apollo-13 became a race against time. For three days the crew overcame crisis after crisis before safely landing just four miles from the recovery ship. And the whole world cheered. An interview with Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo-13, reveals just what went wrong. Because of the accident, every detail of the flight was preserved, culminating in the Report of the Apollo-13 Review Board (The Cortright Report). And it's all here-photos, technical drawings, specifications, preserved for future generations.

(Extracted from the back cover).

OUR REVIEW

They did it again. Computer Support Corporation have succeeded in rendering us open-mouthed once again. By taking advantage of the Apollo-13 "fever", thanks to the movie that narrates what happened during such a mythical mission, they have offered us a sensational product. It appears that nothing is lacking in this CD-ROM: an interview with one of the protagonists, many video minutes of the mission, a complete description of the journey and a true encyclopaedia of what happened. In this latter one the question is examined from all viewpoints (control center, astronauts, etc.). Moreover, the complete transcriptions of the conversations between the crew and Earth, numerous photos, as well as many audio excerpts are likewise included so as to illustrate in a perfect way some of the most transcentental moments. Also, there are complete descriptions of the hardware, we have access to a detailed explanation of what the controllers saw on their screens during the accident, etc. The authors of this CD-ROM have utilized hypertext so that the reader-audience can travel all over their contents, thus obtaining the best profit from the information it provides.

In this work we will find everything we need, and always with a very attractive, pleasant presentation. Works of this kind are the ones that really whet our appetite to learn more and study the history of astronautics in depth. We can state that, once this CD-ROM is viewed, the flight of the Apollo-13 will no longer hold any secrets for us. The level of detail appears to have no limits, though we can always merely have a cursory glance at the general aspects of the mission, or on the contrary, we can enter the intricate reports, further research, biographies of the astronauts... Furthermore, as if this were not enough, we are provided with an appendix containing a bibliography, a glossary, etc. In this case the format has nothing to envy from what a traditional book may have to offer, and what's more, it widely surpasses it in every sense. If you don't care much about the space adventure yet you have been interested in the movie, you can't but have a copy of this program: you will then change your opinion. And if you already are a fervent follower of this sort of issues, APOLLO-13 will delight you.

The program only needs a compatible PC 386-486 or better computer, with at least 4 MB of RAM memory. A sound card is essential (as well as, of course, the CD-ROM reader) so as to enjoy this wonderful product in its entirety. It works with Windows 3.1 or better and it also needs the use of a mouse and a VGA graphic screen with 256 colors.