Essay About Space Craft And Makeshift Filter

Apollo 13 – Questions About the Movie Answered
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Apollo 13 Questions
1.Id first have to say that the head of mission control on the ground was definitely
important in the salvaging of Apollo 13. He was faced with problem after problem yet he
kept a somewhat level head through all of it and managed the engineers and other people
involved back at Houston very well. Jim Lovells piloting skills played a roll in the
crews survival as well. When he had to set the ships course for Earth manually it took a
great deal of skill and patience and he deserves credit for that. Ken Mattingly might not
have made it to space, but his extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of the spacecraft
saved the lives of his friends when they had a power crisis.
2. One particular problem during the Apollo 13 mission was a build up of carbon dioxide
in the spacecraft. The CO2 scrubbers designed to filter out the gas werent working
properly and as time progressed and the astronauts breathed more the situation worsened.
To solve this problem NASA pooled together some engineers to come up with a design
for a makeshift filter using common items onboard the space craft and an existing filter
from another section of the spacecraft.
3. The general public and the press seemed disinterested with the Apollo 13 mission.
Since wed already beaten the Russians to the moon, no one in the general public put
much interest into NASA anymore. The space race was decided and the public lost
interest in NASA With no audience for the story, the press began putting less attention to
the later Apollo missions. In the film a broadcast from the astronauts aboard Apollo 13
was canceled due to a lack of interest. As for the astronauts, I think their attitude towards
the space program was positive. They obviously were enthused about their mission to the
moon, but I think they were beginning to believe these missions were becoming routine
as well. I gathered this from their horseplay and wisecracks in space prior to the accident.