Apollo 13 Case Study 2
Apollo 13
“Houston We 've Got A Problem”
12/1/11
Apollo 13 was supposed to be the third mission by NASA to land a space shuttle onto the moon. The crew aboard the ship consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr. (KSC). The launch date for Apollo 13 was set for April 11, 1970 at 13:13 Houston time (James A. Lovell). The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum summarizes the events of the Apollo 13 incident as “An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks crippled the spacecraft during flight and the crew was forced to orbit the Moon and return to the Earth without landing.” That explosion of the oxygen tank caused the other tank to fail which also caused the command module 's normal supply of electricity, light and water to be lost, and they were about 200,000 miles from Earth (NASA). If you have seen the movie Apollo 13 then you would know that it was a story of survival, action, suspense, and adventure. The movie shows how mission control handled the situation with the crew stuck on Apollo 13 and how they achieved the impossible to get the crew home safely. Nick Greene and even NASA called Apollo 13 a “successful failure” from what was accomplished during the mission. Learning from your mistakes is a good way to put it, but can you really call failure a success? What if the Apollo 13 rescue mission didn 't go according to plan and the crew had been stranded in space?
The lives of the astronaut crew had been put into jeopardy because of the faults in the Apollo 13 spacecraft. It wasn 't just a slight miscalculation for the crew of Apollo 13, it was a matter of life or death. The events that conspired on the Apollo 13 lunar mission could have easily turned from a “successful failure” into a “horrible and tragic failure”. The question I would like to ask is if this whole incident could have been avoided and if it could have how? I am hoping that the research conducted on the Apollo 13 incident will shed some light and give
“Houston We 've Got A Problem”
12/1/11
Apollo 13 was supposed to be the third mission by NASA to land a space shuttle onto the moon. The crew aboard the ship consisted of James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr. (KSC). The launch date for Apollo 13 was set for April 11, 1970 at 13:13 Houston time (James A. Lovell). The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum summarizes the events of the Apollo 13 incident as “An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks crippled the spacecraft during flight and the crew was forced to orbit the Moon and return to the Earth without landing.” That explosion of the oxygen tank caused the other tank to fail which also caused the command module 's normal supply of electricity, light and water to be lost, and they were about 200,000 miles from Earth (NASA). If you have seen the movie Apollo 13 then you would know that it was a story of survival, action, suspense, and adventure. The movie shows how mission control handled the situation with the crew stuck on Apollo 13 and how they achieved the impossible to get the crew home safely. Nick Greene and even NASA called Apollo 13 a “successful failure” from what was accomplished during the mission. Learning from your mistakes is a good way to put it, but can you really call failure a success? What if the Apollo 13 rescue mission didn 't go according to plan and the crew had been stranded in space?
The lives of the astronaut crew had been put into jeopardy because of the faults in the Apollo 13 spacecraft. It wasn 't just a slight miscalculation for the crew of Apollo 13, it was a matter of life or death. The events that conspired on the Apollo 13 lunar mission could have easily turned from a “successful failure” into a “horrible and tragic failure”. The question I would like to ask is if this whole incident could have been avoided and if it could have how? I am hoping that the research conducted on the Apollo 13 incident will shed some light and give
Bibliography: NASA. "NASA - Apollo 13." NASA - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html> Apollo 13 Review Board Encyclopedia Astronautica. "1970.06.13 - Apollo 13 Review Board publishes result of investigation.."Encyclopedia Astronautica. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. <http://www.astronautix.com/details/apo27567.htm> Greene, Nick Harris, Charles E., and Michael S. Pritchard. Engineering ethics: concepts and cases. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. History, Channel. "Apollo 13 — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.history.com/topics/apollo-13>. Kennedy Space Center. "NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-13." Kennedy Space Center Science and Technology Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/apollo-13.html>. KSC. "NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-13." Kennedy Space Center Science and Technology Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/apollo-13.html>. Lovell, James A.. "Chapter 13.1."Apollo Expeditions to the Moon. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-350/ch-13-1.html>. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. "Apollo 13 Mission Summary." Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/as13/a13sum.htm Williams, Dr