37 years ago today the Apollo 13 splash landed in the Pacific Ocean four days after an oxygen tank explosion in space which spawned on of the most endlessly misquoted quotes: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

Apollo 13 was supposed to land in the Fra Mauro area but the explosion 3 days into the mission forced Apollo 13 to circle the moon without landing. In case you aren’t familiar with the plight of Apollo 13, everyone survived.

It’s safe to say they didn’t enjoy the ride though - there was a lack of food, water and power, making sleep almost impossible because of the cold, it was also calculated that the crew would run out of water - needed both for them and for the cooling systems - before reentry. As a result the crew had to be very strict in their conservation of their resources and became severely dehydrated, they also set a record among all the Apollo missions: the crew lost a total of 31.5 pounds, nearly 50 percent more than any other crew. Probably not the kind of fame they had hoped for!

On the subject of technological failures, I’m sure we’ve all had our share of nightmare gadgets. Wired’s readership certainly have and they’ve decided they’re not going to take it lying down! Check out Wired’s Top 10 Gadget Revenge killings if you’re brave enough… I’m not sure it’s safe viewing for the technologically squeamish - I feel a bit more protective of my gadgets now!

I’ve just watched a video from TED.org of the presentation given by Harvard Center for Astrophysics Researcher Roy Gould and Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft’s Next Media Research, unveiling Microsoft’s new WorldWide Telescope a few weeks ago.

According to Gould produces a “holistic approach” by weaving together the best images and information from satellites and telescopes all over the world and will have “as profound an impact on they way we view the universe as Galileo did 4 centuries ago.” Big claims but apparently it made Robert Scoble, MD of Fast Company.TV and, according to Wikipedia an “American blogger, technical evangelist, and author” cry, as he openly admits on his blog: “This is the thing that made me tear up when I saw it because it’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen Microsoft do in years.” and on the company website when they did a feature: “It had a huge emotional impact on me, as I realized the way my son will see the Universe will forever change, thanks to the work of two guys in Microsoft Research (Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay).”

Curtis Wong discribes the project as a labour of love for his team and they hope it will inspire “kids to explore and learn about the universe”.

Gould ends his part of the talk by saying “When I ask people ‘How does the night sky make you feel?’ they often say ‘oh, tiny - I feel tiny and insignificant!” Well, our gaze fills the universe and thanks to the creators of the WorldWide Telescope we c an now start to have a dialogue with the universe. I think the WorldWide Telescope will convince you that we maybe tiny but we are truly, wonderfully significant.”

There are some amazing images on display in this talk and the technology is fascinating, I recommend watching the video. You can also get more information on the official Microsoft mini-site.

WorldWide Telescope will be available as a free download later this Spring and I for one can’t wait to play around with it!