Apollo 13 was launched at 1313 Houston time on Saturday, April 11, 1970. Following months of meticulous preparation, highly-skilled and experienced commandant J.A. Lovell and his crew were on their way for the third lunar landing in the history of humanity. Apollo 13 was looking like it would be the smoothest flight ever.1 When the astronauts finished their TV broadcast, wishing us earthlings a good evening, they didn't imagine that an oxygen tank would explode a few moments later, rendering them close to spending the rest of their lives in rotation around the planet. While the crew eventually reached Earth safely, I wished to use this well-known incident to discuss further the link, or lack thereof, between sport sciences research and current field practices.2,3 My feeling is that failure to rethink the overall research/publishing process will keep us on orbit ad aeternum. That is, the sport sciences as a field will remain only at the periphery of elite sport practice.