Which moon landing mission of the United States failed to reach the moon and had to return to the earth with the crew safe and sound?

Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program and was intended to be the third mission to land on the Moon [t1][t5]. Launched on April 11, 1970, the mission faced a critical emergency two days into the flight when an oxygen tank in the Service Module exploded [t1][t8]. This catastrophic failure crippled the spacecraft's power and life support systems, forcing the crew—James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise—to abandon the lunar landing [t1][t4]. Using the Lunar Module as a 'lifeboat,' the crew performed a free-return trajectory, swinging around the Moon to gain the velocity needed to return to Earth [t2][t5]. Despite the life-threatening conditions, the crew returned safely, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970 [t1][t3]. The mission is famously remembered as a 'successful failure' due to the safe recovery of the crew [t1][t2].

Sources

1. [1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollo-13-mission