Oftentimes, the thought of watching a movie based on true events conjures up images of boring history lessons. Few of us think such a movie could be enthralling and action-packed. Apollo 13, however, is just that. This 1995 film directed by Ron Howard, is an incredibly accurate portrayal of an event in United States spaceflight history, meant to strengthen the public’s opinion surrounding similar missions and commemorate the crew and mission control who partook in Apollo 13.
When Apollo 13’s crew set out for the moon’s Fra Mauro highlands on April 11, 1970, they had no idea they would soon be fighting for their lives. Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise ran into trouble after just over two days in space when an explosion damaged their spacecraft (“Apollo 13”). What started out as an expedition to collect lunar rocks turned into a race
…show more content…
The film’s plot closely resembles the actual events that occurred, both in the lonely capsule thousands of miles from earth and on the ground (Apollo 13). The commonalities perhaps indicate that director Ron Howard wished to convey the true spirit of the mission. Being the “successful failure” that it was, the public’s perception of the mission is what conveyed its true significance (Apollo 13; “Remembering Apollo 13”). The public had started to grow disinterested toward the Apollo missions, but through the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration proved their ability to face challenges (“Remembering Apollo 13”). This detail and its portrayal are significant because the film was released in 1995, just twenty-five years after the actual mission took place (Apollo 13). Therefore, the movie would have been able to boost the public’s morale surrounding the spaceflight program. In addition to this, it could have also brought attention to the extraordinary efforts required to salvage the mission, thereby honoring everyone
As a result of the successful mission that landed the first men on the moon, called the Apollo 11 mission, many people were inspired to provide commentary on this landing. Although these texts describe unique individual purposes about this landing, they all effectively support their purposes through the use of several rhetorical devices.
The following four texts apart of the Culminating Activity were all related to the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which had first put a man on the moon. The first article was from the Times of London, and served to describe the events of the moon landing from the astronaut's point of view. The article used anecdotal evidence to describe Aldrin and Armstrong's experience in order to inform the audience of what had occurred, as well as the reactions in several different countries.. The speaker is a from a reputable news source, The Times, and is informing the European audience - as this event was apart of America’s space program, NASA - of the landing as a great success. Although
The Space Race was a 20th century competition between the soviet union And the United States for supremacy in spaceflight ability. The launch date for apollo 13 was originally in March of 1970 but later the launch date switched to april. During one of the countdown demonstrations the Kennedy Space Center encountered problems with the oxygen tanks in the service module. When the apollo 13 mission took off their main goal was to land in the Fra Mauro area on the moon. An explosion in one of the oxygen tanks crippled the spacecraft during the flight and the crew were forced to orbit the moon and return to earth without landing. The Apollo 13 mission was launched on April 11th in the year 1970. For the first few days of the flight the crew ran into a couple minor accidents, but Apollo 13 was looking like the smoothest flight of the program. They aborted the mission after 56 hours of flight due to an explosion in the oxygen tanks. “At 5 ½ minutes after liftoff John Swigert, Fred Haise and James Lovell felt a little vibration then the center engine of the S-II stage shut down two minutes early. This caused the remaining 4 engines to burn 34 seconds longer than planned, and the S-IVB third stage had to burn nine seconds longer to put Apollo 13 in orbit.” (nasa.gov) At 55 hours and 46 minutes the crew was finishing a live tv broadcast showing how well they were doing and how they comfortably lived.
Apollo 11 was such a huge historical turning point because, it not only affected the United States, but it affected the entire world. It was one of the first mass worldwide event, and an estimated 600 million people watched. Apollo 11 caused the world to think more about space and all
On July 16, 1969 the space ship Apollo 11 left from Kennedy Space Center en route to the moon. The crew consisted of Neil A. Armstrong, the commander; Edwin E. Aldrin, the jr. lunar module pilot; and Michael Collins, the commander module pilot...
On April 13, 1970, NASA's Mission Control heard the five words that no control center ever wants to hear: "We've got a problem here." Jack Swigert, an astronaut aboard the Apollo 13 aircraft, reported the problem of broken down oxygen tanks to the Houston Control Center, less than two days after its takeoff on April 11th. Those at the Control Center in Houston were unsure what had happened to the spacecraft, but knew that some sort of explosion had occurred. This so-called explosion sent Apollo 13 spinning away from the Earth at 2,000 miles per hour, 75 percent of the way to the moon. In order to get the astronauts back to the Earth's atmosphere would be to utilize the moon's gravitational pull and send them back towards home, like a slingshot. However, this procedure would require three days, and this demanded more oxygen and electricity than the crew had available to them. Eugene "Gene" Kranz, head of this flight mission, although looking on in horror, began thinking of solutions to the problem immediately after the Controls were aware of the problem on board. Knowing that the options of refueling the spacecraft with oxygen or retrieve the astronauts himself, he needed to think of a strategy for a safe return. In this sense, if his solution fails, it could result in the biggest catastrophe in NASA history.
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American space adventure film directed by Ron Howard. The film depicts astronauts Jim Lovell,
Sambaluk, PhD, Micholas Michael. "John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon." Air & Space Power Journal 27.5 (2013): 156-58. Print.
Apollo 13 was a mission that some may grow to learn was a failure; It was in fact the complete opposite. Space entry was improved immensely, with the efforts and struggles gained from previous missions. In addition, one of the victims of this mission, Jim Lovell, “believed it was a success. Everyone was tested on their ability to work together and that is how Apollo 13 succeeded” (Anastasio 90). Future space entry missions would not have been as successful as they are without previous missions bettering the space program.
The television broadcast of the Apollo 11 lunar-landing on July 20, 1969 had a significant impact by creating a sense of community on a national, international, and global level. During the broadcast of the first lunar landing, Americans experienced a moment of unity and patriotism in the midst of societal issues and geopolitical conflict. The Apollo 11 broadcast also had a significant worldwide impact, surpassing international boundaries as people witnessed the first of mankind to set foot on another planet. Yet possibly the most remarkable and unforeseen effect of the moon-landing television broadcast was that it changed the public perspective of the world, showing people the relative fragility and insignificance of the Earth in the vast
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” was stated by Neil Armstrong once a national goal was accomplished. Landing successfully on the moon was a major goal for astronauts of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were honored to be the very first of mankind to step foot on the moon, and allowed America to set future goals for outer-space journeys. With the assigned Apollo mission, America was granted much needed hope. Astronauts of NASA in the Apollo Program accomplished John F. Kennedy’s goal of placing the first man on the moon safely for the United States.
Exactly 75 hours and 50 minutes after blasting off from Earth, the crew of Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit, something only two crews before them had done. Every orbit brought the crew closer to their ultimate destination, the Sea of Tranquility, a flat surface near the Moon’s equator that would be lit by the Sun when the final approach began. On the 13th orbit of the Moon, Aldrin, Armstrong and Collins began their voyage into uncharted territory.
~"The 1969 Moon Landing: First Humans to Walk on Another World." Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2001. U.S. History in Context. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was July 20 1969, the day that reshaped our nation and gave us unparalleled dreams for the future. The impact of the day goes far beyond our pride and nationalism; that day would change space exploration and technology forever. Just like a shooting star, that day would give us a glimpse of hope. A chance to see an event so breathtaking and defying, it would be man’s greatest accomplishment in the 20th century. As millions of people watched from their TV sets, a rush of euphoria came over the nation as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was the first time in the history of mankind that we would step on the surface of another celestial body. John F. Kennedy dared us to dream, he inspired the nation to reach for the moon, to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. The Space Race was symbolic of many things. Our future as the technically dominate nation was secured in place; just as secure as Old Glory would be, when she was driven down into the soil of the moon. We not only reached the moon, we conquered it as a nation; united.
There are eight planets in our solar system. The first planet closest to the sun is Mercury. Therefore, Mercury is the hottest planet. Mercury’s surface is cold. However, in the daytime Mercury can get as hot as 840 degrees fahrenheit, which is 450 degrees celsius. During night time the temperature can decrease to 275 degrees fahrenheit, or -170 degrees celsius. Mercury is the smallest planet. Mercury is the quickest planet to move around the sun. Its speed is approximately 112,000 mph along its elliptical orbit. Mercury can move around the sun in 88 days. There are craters in mercury, and scientist believe ice is in the craters.