Swigert, John Leonard, Jr. (1931-1982), a United States astronaut , served as command module pilot of the Apollo 13 lunar flight in April 1970. Swigert made the flight with astronauts Fred W. Haise, Jr. , and James A. Lovell, Jr.
About 56 hours after the flight began, an explosion caused by a short circuit severely damaged the command module’s life-support and electrical systems. The crew switched to the lunar module’s systems and used them to return to the earth. The tense return trip ended safely nearly four days later.
Swigert was born on Aug. 30, 1931, in Denver, Colorado. He was in the Air Force from 1953 to 1956. Swigert then worked as a civilian test pilot until 1966, when he became an astronaut. Swigert resigned from the astronaut program in 1977. In 1982, Swigert won election to the United States House of Representatives from Colorado. But he died on Dec. 27, 1982, before taking office. A statue of Swigert represents Colorado in the Statuary Hall collection in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
