Fifty-six hours into NASA’s third attempt to land on the moon, Houston radioed the spacecraft with a seemingly-innocent request. Following NASA’s instructions, the astronauts turned on the hydrogen and oxygen stirring fans in order to obtain more accurate readings. Two minutes later, an oxygen tank exploded. Electrical power and the altimeter readings began to fluctuate wildly. Communications were briefly lost. Three minutes later, fuel cells one and three failed. Over the next 130 minutes, the second oxygen tank, damaged by the blast, spewed its precious cargo out into the void. With all oxygen depleted, the last fuel cell flickered out. The crew of spaceflight Apollo 13 was left stranded with no power, no oxygen, and no way to return--205,000 miles from home.
Immediately, Houston sprang into a frenzy of action. It was clear that entirely new solutions needed to be rapidly found, tested, and executed if the astronauts were to survive. The most pressing problem was power. The command module was running on backup power, but it only had fifteen minutes left. Houston directed the astronauts to make their way into the lunar module, …show more content…
Despite the hordes of mechanical problems faced in the aftermath of the disaster, both the astronauts and Mission Control were determined to overcome them all. With remarkable brilliance, the scientists at NASA came up with ingenious strategies that saved the lives of the Apollo 13 crew. This story inspires me because it is a tale of people who believed that even the most dire of situations can be conquered if you can work hard and find a creative solution. NASA saw it the same way. Although Apollo 13 never landed on the moon, NASA’s intelligence and nerve was tested by this trial--and they passed the test with flying colors. Additionally, it provided them with valuable insight as to how NASA operates in a worse-case scenario. In the end, NASA recorded Apollo 13 as “a successful
Immediately, Houston sprang into a frenzy of action. It was clear that entirely new solutions needed to be rapidly found, tested, and executed if the astronauts were to survive. The most pressing problem was power. The command module was running on backup power, but it only had fifteen minutes left. Houston directed the astronauts to make their way into the lunar module, …show more content…
Despite the hordes of mechanical problems faced in the aftermath of the disaster, both the astronauts and Mission Control were determined to overcome them all. With remarkable brilliance, the scientists at NASA came up with ingenious strategies that saved the lives of the Apollo 13 crew. This story inspires me because it is a tale of people who believed that even the most dire of situations can be conquered if you can work hard and find a creative solution. NASA saw it the same way. Although Apollo 13 never landed on the moon, NASA’s intelligence and nerve was tested by this trial--and they passed the test with flying colors. Additionally, it provided them with valuable insight as to how NASA operates in a worse-case scenario. In the end, NASA recorded Apollo 13 as “a successful