THE man who saved the crisis torn Apollo 13 mission to the moon is coming to Runcorn.

Retired NASA flight controller, Sy Liebergot will talk about the key role he played at The Heath Business and Technical Park on Friday, June 27.

He will explain how he made the call that ended the mission to land on the moon and how he returned the crew safely back to earth.

His visit has been organised by The Knowledge Observatory at Wigg Island, The Grange School and Something Astronomical.

Apollo 13 was to be the third lunar landing until an explosion in an oxygen tank crippled the spacecraft, leaving the three man crew in grave danger 200,000 miles from earth.

Sy will visit The Grange School in the afternoon to tell science and astronomy students about what it was like to be a flight controller in Mission Control tackling such a catastrophic failure.

His lecture in the evening will be followed by a question and answer session, book signing of his autobiography Apollo EECOM: Journey of a Lifetime and a photograph opportunity.

The talk starts at 6.30pm, followed by a social gathering.

Admission is by ticket only.

To book and pre-order a signed book visit theknowledgeobservatory.co.uk/events/.