The New Ulm Film Society continues the NASA film series Tuesday with a screening of “Apollo 13.”

The film starts at 6:30 p.m. at the New Ulm Public Library.

Released in 1995, the film tells the true story of the Apollo 13 mission that nearly ended in disaster.

In April 1970, Apollo 13 was intended to be the third lunar landing mission, but an explosion occurred en route to the moon, crippling the spaceship and preventing the astronauts from reaching the moon.

The “problem,” as Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell described it, made a return trip to earth seem unlikely.

Despite overwhelming odds, the astronauts made it home thanks to the quick thinking and ingenuity of NASA mission control and the astronauts.

The incident was called a “successful failure.” The mission to land on the moon was a failure, but the successful return of the three astronauts showed the space program could overcome significant adversity.

With a narrative this strong, it is not a surprise the film “Apollo 13” became one of the best films made about the NASA program.

Director Ron Howard took a straightforward approach in telling the story. No embellishments of subplots are needed to make the story engaging.

Most audiences watching “Apollo 13” already know the end, but most were unaware of the step-by-step process taken to save the astronauts. The small details of how they were saved proved compelling and created the high drama of a story with an ending known to almost everyone.

“Apollo 13” is an incredibly detailed film. From a technical standpoint, the sets and locations are near-perfect recreations. The filmmakers went to great lengths to make the story look authentic, and that included creating state-of-the-art special effects.

Computer generated images (CGIs) were still relatively new to film. “Apollo 13” deployed CGI to create realistic footage of the Saturn V rocket launch.

No stock footage of the rocket launch was available, forcing the filmmakers to create their own. The effects were created using traditional miniatures, pyrotechnics and digital effects.

The special effects were so convincing some NASA personnel thought the filmmakers had uncovered never-before-seen footage of the actual Apollo 13 launch.

Another challenge of making “Apollo 13” was how to make the actors playing the astronauts appear weightless during the outer space scenes. Filmmakers overcame this problem by creating a zero-gravity environment.

The scenes in which Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton are floating were filmed aboard an airplane making a series of high-altitude dives to simulate zero gravity.

The performances were also highly praised. Actress Kathleen Quinlan earned a best actress nomination for her performance. Quinlan played Marilyn Lovell, wife of Jim Lovell. She carried much of the emotion of the film as she watches news broadcasts on whether her husband will survive.

Ed Harris received a best supporting actor nomination for playing flight director Gene Kranz. Harris had previously played John Glenn in another space film, “The Right Stuff.” Harris portrayed Kranz as the exact person who should be in charge during an emergency. His character also receives some of the best dialogue including the famous line: “Failure is not an option.”

“Apollo 13” is a rare film in its approach to failure. Most inspiring stories are about people struggling to achieve their dreams and succeeding, but that is not what happens in “Apollo 13.” Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, has one dream: to reach the moon.

That dream is dashed halfway through the film. Lovell never reaches the moon, but he never stops thinking about it, and that’s the secret to the film. The movie’s main theme is a critique of the world’s lack of interest in space exploration.

When “Apollo 13” was released in 1995, no one had visited the moon in more than 20 years. As of this year, the last Apollo mission was 50 years ago.

The crew of Apollo 13 were unable to reach the moon because of technological limitations, but today no one reaches the moon because of lack of will.

Film Society members will provide additional information on the film before and after the screening.