Apollo 13 (1995) – Filming Locations
Drama / History · Directed by Ron Howard · Starring Tom Hanks, Kathleen Quinlan
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
Where was Apollo 13 filmed?
- Houston, Texas, United States, Houston – Mission Control sequences where NASA engineers monitor the Apollo 13 mission and coordinate the rescue. The actual Mission Control room at Johnson Space Center was used for authentic interior sequences, lending documentary realism to the film's depiction of the crisis management
- Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States, Cape Canaveral – Apollo 13 launch sequences showing the Saturn V rocket on the launchpad. Exterior shots of the actual launch complex where Apollo missions were launched provided authentic imagery of the 1970 mission preparations
- San Francisco, California, United States, San Francisco – Home and family scenes of the astronauts and their wives during the crisis. Multiple San Francisco area locations were used for the domestic scenes showing families awaiting news of the astronauts during the oxygen tank crisis
- Los Angeles, California, United States, Los Angeles – Additional interior and exterior sequences including spacecraft interiors and NASA facilities. Los Angeles area locations supplemented the production with studio facilities and exterior spaces for various NASA-related scenes
- Huntsville, Alabama, United States, Huntsville – Sequences depicting NASA engineers and technicians working on solutions to the spacecraft crisis. Marshall Space Flight Center, home to rocket propulsion development, provided authentic NASA facility locations for engineering problem-solving scenes