Apollo 13: Successful Failure

Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crewmembers aboard the ship were James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr. Before the launch, there had been a few problems. Thomas K. Mattingly was supposed to fly on the Apollo 13 but he was exposed to the measles. He didn’t have the antibodies to fight the disease, causing him to not be able to go into space. Swigert took his place. Right before the launch, one of the technicians saw that the helium tank had a higher pressure than expected. Nothing was done to fix this. During liftoff, the second-stage engine shut down, causing the other engines to run longer than planned. Apollo 13 was off to a rocky start.

A few days later Lovell and his crew take off on the Apollo 13 mission. At first all is well until the second oxygen tank explodes, causing many problems for the crew; the most potent problem being that the crew was losing oxygen fast. Luckily, due to much ingenuity by the crew and mission control, the crew is able to arrive safely to earth without the deaths of any astronauts.

In the article by Buzz Aldrin he tells of the launch about to come and happening. Though it was three hours away, you could tell how excited and nervous he was. Then he shared a sad story of what happened to some other astronauts. Specifically - Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White- They died at a pre launch when there capsule burst into flames. He skips ahead to the launch telling of how he felt. One thing I thought was interesting was

After watching the Apollo 13 movie, it is interesting to know that this was a “Successful failure” of a project. This is due to the fact that astronauts returned to Earth safely but they never made it to the moon. After the crew headed for the moon they had to disappointedly cancel the mission before it could be completed and return to earth, when the oxygen tank that exploded caused the spacecraft to malfunctioning.

Apollo 13 was the seventh mission in the Apollo program, and the third designed to bring man to the moon. However, the mission was aborted after a catastrophic oxygen tank explosion left the crew without little heat, potable water, and an increasing level of carbon dioxide in the cabin. Despite the challenges faced, the crew managed to return safely to earth, with careful guidance of the ground crew, on April 17, 1970.

On January 27, 1967 tragedy struck the Apollo program when a fire occurred in command module 012 during a launch pad test of the Apollo/space vehicle being prepared for the first piloted flight, the AS-204 mission. Three astronauts lost their lives. They were Roger Chafee, Edward White and Virgil Grissom.

From countdown to splashdown, Apollo 11 's mission was filled with some surprising twists and turns. It took a combination of luck, determination and guts for the crew of Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong to get the Eagle to the surface of the

The movie Apollo 13 by Ron Howard and The Martian by Ridley Scott, both discuss the similar ideas of survival in their movie. Discuss the ways the directors have used language and stylistics features to present the idea and shape the audience response.

This investigation will answer the question “how did the success of the US Apollo 11 mission change the use of propaganda in the USSR?” It is important to answer this question to better understand the impact landing a man on the moon had on the USSR and in quantifying the importance of science and technology. This will investigate propaganda through posters and film in the USSR from 1945-1975. This study will examine the Russian Archives Online as a broad catalogue of posters from the USSR promoting or demoting powers. It will also investigate an article from a non-US or USSR journalist Space Race Propaganda: USA vs. URSS. A Matter of Posters.

“I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth” said President John F. Kennedy. At this time in history the United States was trailing to the Soviet Union in space developments, and in the cold war (history.com). So President Kennedy proposal came into action and then a team of highly skilled astronomers and astronauts was formed to prepare for Apollo 11. Many people were involved with Apollo 11 coming to life, but three main people were chosen to go into space and walk on the moon. These people included Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin and Michael Collins. Neil Armstrong was an accomplished astronaut and was able to do many things through NASA. Some things he did were; he was the first person to walk on the moon, and he set multiple records in the X-15 spacecraft and worked on the Gemini 8 in 1966. His partner in the Apollo 11 was Buzz Aldrin, also an astronaut, and got to take part in the Apollo four and the Gemini 12. Finally, the pilot commander

One of NASA’s biggest mission was Apollo 11 and the objective was to land on the moon. The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong the commander, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. the Lunar Module Pilot, and Michael Collins the Command Module Pilot. The launch was scheduled to be on July 16, 1969 at nine o’clock in the morning. About four days later the inspirational quote “...one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” said by Neil Armstrong, was the first words spoken on the surface of the moon. About 600 million people from all over the world tuned in to watch the moon landing and watch as Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. They spent only one day on the moon, however in that one day they achieved something that no other man has done. They landed in the pacific ocean on July 24 and were greeted as heroes. Although the mission was eight days long it inspired many other mission by NASA.

The problems that were the most difficult for the astronauts and mission control were the engineering issues. The problems required massive amounts of knowledge to find a solution and fix, and these problems directly caused all of the other issues in the mission, the emotional type and the type about physics, gravity, and other things. Also, all of the underlying issues stemmed from one singular technical problem. Because of this, the engineering problems were the definitely ones that caused the most problems for everyone in the movie, and what happened in real life.

As with most engineering disasters, the determination of the exact cause of the disaster was not easy. The Apollo 1 mission to this day still remains a mystery. The specific initiator of the fire has not yet been determined, and probably never will be. However, after investigation, a number of factors that signifacntly contributed to the disaster were determined. The fire began because of an electical short, it spread quickly because of the volatile atmospheric conditions and the presence of combustible materials inside the module. The hatch design and NASA's management of the Apollo program may have also been contributing

Apollo 11 was the first space mission that landed humans on the moon. On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin landed on the Moon while Michael Collins stayed in the Command Module. On the surface, Armstrong and Aldrin spent two and a half hours collecting samples, taking pictures, and exploring the surface of the moon. After they got their samples, they placed a three by five feet American flag on the moon, a plaque that said, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 20, 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” They landed off the shores of Hawaii on July 24, 1969. Apollo 11 landing on the moon exchanged new scientific and technological information in history, encountered a new region to discover, and started more explorations in space.

Three men shivered in the cold, dark spaceship as it floated through space, unsure if they would return to Earth after the first disaster to occur in space. During the early 1960’s, America was fascinated with the Space Race. The United States became the first country to put a man on the moon, and the exploration did not stop there. Apollo 13 tells the story of three astronauts that were supposed to go to the moon. On the journey there, part of the ship exploded, causing the fuel levels to plummet. Now unable to complete the mission, the crew struggled their own disappointments and frustrations as well as the problem of how they would get home. Against the odds, Mission Control and the three crew members overcame multiple life threatening problems and managed to get the men home alive and safe.