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NASA space-flown Apollo medallions were mission-specific commemorative medallions which were approved by NASA and carried aboard the mission spacecraft into orbit. Apollo 13 (April 11 – 17, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program, but the intended lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. The commander, Jim Lovell, with crew members Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, were brought safely back to Earth, using the lunar module as a lifeboat.
The medallions were struck by the Robbins Company in sterling silver and ordered by the mission crew as a personal memento of their flight; they were often taken to the lunar surface in the landing module. A total of over 3,000 Robbins medallions were flown into space across the 12 crewed flights of the Apollo program.Photograph credit: Heritage Auctions; commissioned by the NASA astronaut office