Apollo 13 Essay Questions

Part 1

“Apollo 13” is a movie featuring a moon-landing mission by NASA’s Space Program in 1970. However, there was a problem. The mission to the Moon was going well, and the almost idyllic journey of astronauts Lovell, Fred Haise, and John Swigert transformed into a heartbreaking nightmare. The team of astronauts was operating the mission through the Spacecraft Center in Houston. Everything was going well as per the plan until Lovell suddenly said in a laconic tone, that he believed there was a problem (Howard, 1995). Apollo 13 had been shattered by a big bang from Odyssey's service module, which houses the ship's main engine as well as most of its life-giving energy and environmental systems. Almost immediately, the command module's instruments registered an electric shock followed by an alarming drop. On the instrument panels of Odyssey flared red and yellow warning lights. In Houston, the controllers caught attention when Apollo 13 telemetry data confirmed the extent of the problem. A few seconds later, one of the service module's two spherical oxygen tanks was completely empty. Lovell could see the stream off the gas, which was being withdrawn into space (Howard, 1995). At the same time, the spacecraft

The mysterious explosion had also affected two of the Service Module's three fuel cells, which generated most of the vital electrical energy of the Command Module. Consequently, it quickly became clear that a moon landing was out of the question. Worse still, the second oxygen tank was also rapidly leaking. If the vent could not be stopped, it would soon be inadequate oxygen aboard the Odyssey. The oxygen was not just for breathing, it was important for the reaction with hydrogen to generate energy in the apparently undamaged fuel cell. However, the loss of oxygen continued. (Howard, 1995) Finally, it was a desperate attempt to save enough oxygen to assist the astronauts on their way