Ron Howard · 1995 · the weightless scenes were flown

Apollo 13

A scorched conical spacecraft capsule displayed in a gallery — The Apollo 13 command module Odyssey on display at the Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, Kansas, May 2018. Balon Greyjoy · CC0

The cabin of a diving aircraft, a copy of Mission Control and a lake for the splashdown. Here is where each was, and where the real mission was.

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Two Apollo 13s

The mission and the film

Each real event of April 1970 has a stand-in made in 1994 and 1995. Pick one, then flip between them.

Flight controllers at consoles watching a wall of screens — The Mission Control Center in Houston during the Apollo 13 splashdown, 17 April 1970. NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domain

Control room · as it happened

Apollo Mission Control Room, Houston

NASA’s gallery includes photographs of controllers at work in April 1970, through the Apollo 13 crisis.

On a working NASA site. It is seen from a viewing area on the tram tour that leaves Space Center Houston.

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The arc

Film only while it floats

Howard describes the aircraft flying parabolas: climbing from about 10,000 feet to 30,000 or 40,000 feet, then diving, so everything inside falls freely. Slide along the flight. Everything in the cabin floats inside the window, and the camera works only then.

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Climbing · outside the window

0 master shots · the crew flew 612 manoeuvres

Pull the slider along the flight. The camera works only in the weightless window.

A woman floats in a padded aircraft cabin, her hair drifting upwards — Christa McAuliffe floating inside a NASA KC-135 during a weightless training flight, 1985. The aircraft is not the one used for the film. NASA · Public domain

Howard says the production logged 13 days, often with two flights a day and 80 to 100 parabolas a day.

Howard says every master shot was filmed in weightlessness first, before the coverage was shot. Real KC-135 zero-gravity footage closes the launch sequence, Howard says.

The museum says the production leased the aircraft for six months and fitted the SpaceWorks sets in the cabin. The sets were secured to the aircraft floor, but the props and actors were not, so many takes were scrapped, the museum says.

The museum puts each parabola at about 25 seconds of weightlessness. Howard puts the weightlessness of each dive at about 23 seconds.

The museum quotes Kevin Bacon on about 40 parabolas in each morning and afternoon session.

Wikipedia says Steven Spielberg suggested filming weightlessness aboard the aircraft, and the crew came away with about 3 hours 54 minutes of footage over 612 zero-gravity manoeuvres.

An aircraft, not a place: it has no fixed spot to visit. The photograph shows a different KC-135 in 1985.

Sources

On the ground

Most of it was a see-saw

The museum says most close-ups were shot on the ground, with actors on a see-saw-like device that bobbed them up and down.

A row of open-sided tour trams on a studio road — Studio Tour trams at Universal Studios Hollywood, January 2013. METRO96 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Universal Studios lot, Universal City

Howard says the capsule scenes shot on the ground used a teeter-totter and belly pans for a floating feel, and the capsule was sometimes turned upside down or sideways.

Wikipedia says principal photography began in August 1994 and the last three weeks were shot on soundstages at Universal City. Production designer Michael Corenblith and set decorator Merideth Boswell built the Mission Control set at Universal.

Howard says a week of rehearsals on the lot let the Mission Control actors work with real flight directors, and Jerry Griffin, an original Apollo 13 flight director, came on the first day. Howard says the set looked so real that Griffin briefly thought he was in Houston, when he had only gone to the bathroom on the Hollywood set.

The splashdown was shot on an artificial lake built at Universal. It was the last scene filmed, and filming wrapped on 25 February 1995.

Howard says he discussed the weightlessness problem with Steven Spielberg while walking on the Universal lot.

A working studio lot. Universal Studios Hollywood and its Studio Tour are the visitor way in; check what the tour passes.

Sources

A white four-engined aircraft on an apron under a pale sky — A later NASA KC-135, Weightless Wonder IV, parked at Ellington Field, Houston, in February 2010. Patrick Feller · CC BY 2.0

Ellington Field

Howard says the cast, the line producer, second-unit director Todd Hollowell and he spent three days on flight training in Houston: a written test, a physical, then one test flight.

Howard says nobody was sick on the test flight, though several felt queasy.

NASA set up facilities at Ellington in the early 1960s as a base for astronaut flight proficiency and specialised aircraft training, close to the new Manned Spacecraft Center. T-38 jets are the main aircraft used there for astronaut training.

The civil part of the base was bought by the City of Houston in 1984 and renamed Ellington Airport on 14 January 2009.

A working airport with a military side. It is not a visitor attraction; look from the public roads.

Sources

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Universal City, Los Angeles

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Houston

Live marketplace results for tours of Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston. Check which pass the Mission Control room.

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Landing

Go and see where it was built

Space Center Houston, the Cosmosphere and Universal Studios Hollywood are open to visit. Mission Control, the Cape pad and Ellington are on working sites and are seen on tours or from outside. The KC-135 was an aircraft and the splashdown was in open sea, so neither is pinned.

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Where it is now

6 places in Texas, Kansas, Florida and California, plus the aircraft and the sea, named but not pinned.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working airport with a military side. It is not a visitor attraction; look from the public roads.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A ticketed visitor centre beside Johnson Space Center. It is the starting point for the NASA tram tour.
Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. On a working NASA site. It is seen from a viewing area on the tram tour that leaves Space Center Houston.

A later NASA KC-135, Weightless Wonder IV, parked at Ellington Field, Houston, in February 2010. Patrick Feller · CC BY 2.0
Houston · Ellington Airport, south-east Houston
Ellington Field
NASA set up facilities at Ellington in the early 1960s as a base for astronaut flight proficiency and specialised aircraft training, close to the new Manned Spacecraft Center.
A working airport with a military side. It is not a visitor attraction; look from the public roads.
Sources
Space Center Houston, the visitor centre of Johnson Space Center, photographed in May 2025. Oleg Yunakov · CC BY-SA 4.0
Houston · 1601 East NASA Parkway, Houston
Space Center Houston
Space Center Houston is at 1601 East NASA Parkway, Houston.
A ticketed visitor centre beside Johnson Space Center. It is the starting point for the NASA tram tour.
Sources
The restored Apollo Mission Operations Control Room at Johnson Space Center, photographed by NASA on 26 June 2019. NASA · Public domain
Houston · Building 30, Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, Johnson Space Center
Apollo Mission Control Room, Houston
NASA places the Apollo Mission Control Center in Building 30 at Johnson Space Center.
On a working NASA site. It is seen from a viewing area on the tram tour that leaves Space Center Houston.
Sources

Stay

A room by the museum.

A Kansas hotel near the Cosmosphere, where Odyssey is kept.

Wyndham Hotels

Baymont by Wyndham Hutchinson

Hutchinson, Kansas

A hotel at 1315 East 11th Avenue, Hutchinson, Kansas, whose page mentions the Cosmosphere. Pictured: the Cosmosphere, 2013.

Check rooms

Go there

Book a seat.

The museum, the tram tour at Houston, the Cape and the Universal lot.

Cosmosphere

The Cosmosphere

Hutchinson, Kansas

The Kansas museum whose SpaceWorks built the film’s spacecraft interiors and holds Odyssey. Check its hours; it lists Monday and Tuesday as closed. Pictured: Odyssey, 2018.

Plan a visit

Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston and the NASA tram tour

NASA Parkway, Houston

The visitor centre beside Johnson Space Center, where NASA says the restored Apollo Mission Control room is shown on special tours. Check which tour passes it.

See tickets

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Kennedy Space Center bus tour

Merritt Island, Florida

A bus tour behind NASA’s gates at the spaceport that launched Apollo 13. Check what each tour passes. Pictured: the 1970 launch.

See the tour

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Universal City, Los Angeles

Live marketplace results for Universal Studios Hollywood, beside the lot where the control room and splashdown lake were built. Check what each ticket includes.

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Houston NASA and space tours

Houston

Live marketplace results for tours of Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston. Check which pass the Mission Control room.

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What’s on

No dates yet.

Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.

No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

The archive

Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.

Search places and stories What remains Sort

8 of 8 places · 15 of 15 stories

The KC-135 flying set
A NASA reduced-gravity aircraft; no fixed point on the map
- The weightless dive
  Howard puts each dive at about 23 seconds of weightlessness; the museum says about 25.
- Six months in the air
  The production leases the aircraft for six months and fits the SpaceWorks sets in its cabin.
- 612 manoeuvres
  The crew gets about 3 hours 54 minutes of footage over 612 zero-gravity manoeuvres.
Ellington Field
Ellington Airport, south-east Houston
- Three days of flight training
  The cast and crew spend three days on flight training in Houston before the test flight.
Space Center Houston
1601 East NASA Parkway, Houston
- Tram tours
  The restored room opens to the public through tours run by Space Center Houston.
Apollo Mission Control Room, Houston
Building 30, Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, Johnson Space Center
- Thirteen controllers
  Howard meets 13 mission controllers who worked Apollo 13.
- The room reopens
  The restored Apollo Mission Control room reopens to the public in June 2019.
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center
Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Brevard County, Florida
- Liftoff
  Apollo 13 launches from Launch Complex 39A on 11 April 1970.
- Filming at the Cape
  Howard and Hanks film at Kennedy Space Center in December 1994.
The Cosmosphere, Hutchinson
1100 North Plum Street, Hutchinson, Kansas
- The interiors
  SpaceWorks builds the Apollo 13 spacecraft interiors used as sets.
- Odyssey on display
  The flown command module Odyssey is on display, restored by SpaceWorks.
Universal Studios lot, Universal City
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, Los Angeles
- The replica control room
  A copy of Mission Control is built on the Universal lot.
- The splashdown lake
  The splashdown is shot on an artificial lake at Universal, the last scene filmed.
- Weightless on the ground
  Close-ups use a teeter-totter and belly pans to fake floating.
The South Pacific splashdown
South Pacific Ocean, south-east of American Samoa
- Splashdown
  Apollo 13 splashes down in the South Pacific on 17 April 1970.