Ben Wason

Physics Honors
Mrs. Henderson
4/30/14
What Went Wrong with Apollo 13?
Apollo 13 launched into space on April 11 1!"0. At that ti#e neither the pu$lic nor #ission
control were aware o% what was in store %or the#. &hree days into the #ission the pro$le#s $egan and
a desperate $attle to $ring the astronauts $ac' to (arth ali)e ensued. *uring the #ission there were a
)ariety o% technical %ailures and #al%unctions. Physics can $e related to the e)ents o% the #ission in a
nu#$er o% ways. Also since the ti#e o% this #ission technology and space technology in particular
has changed a great deal.
&he Apollo 13 #ission su%%ered #any %ailures #al%unctions and other pro$le#s. +ne initial
pro$le# an electrical %ault led to the e,plosion an o,ygen tan'. &his e,plosion in turn lead to the
da#aging o% a second tan'. &he da#age to the o,ygen tan's lead to the %ailure o% the electrical syste#
o% the -o##and Module. &hese successi)e %ailures lead Mission -ontrol to a$ort the #ission and
$egin the atte#pt to $ring the astronauts ho#e sa%ely. &wo i#portant pro$le#s now %aced $y Mission
-ontrol were how to $ring the astronauts ho#e on the .uic'est route possi$le and how to conser)e the
necessary o,ygen power and water. &he astronauts o$ser)ed a gas lea'ing out into space %ro# the
ship. &his caused pro$le#s with the align#ent o% the ship/s tra0ectory. Also a #a0or pro$le# %aced $y
the crew during the %light was the cold resulting %ro# the lac' o% power to control the te#perature. &his
lead to di%%iculty sleeping generating concerns %or the a$ility o% the crew to %unction properly. +ne o%
the #ost serious pro$le#s %aced was the insu%%icient nu#$er o% %ilters to re#o)e the car$on dio,ide
e,haled $y the crew %ro# the air. &o #a'e this worse %ilters %ro# the -M were not interchangea$le
with those %ro# the 1unar Module. 2ortunately the crew and Mission -ontrol were a$le to o)erco#e
the challenges and sa%ely return the #ission to (arth.
&hroughout the #ission physics was in)ol)ed in o)erco#ing #any o% the challenges %aced and
in the o)erall sa)ing o% the #ission and crew. 3n order to $ring the #ission $ac' to (arth Mission
-ontrol decided to use the gra)ity o% the #oon to slingshot the spacecra%t $ac' towards the planet. 3n
order to do this the astronauts had to attain the correct tra0ectory using propulsion syste#s that rely on
4ewton/s third law o% #otion. Also during the reentry a heat shield was used to a$sor$ the e,cessi)e
heat caused $y the %riction o% the at#osphere. As the crew splashed down $uoyancy was i#portant to
ensure that the #odule re#ained a%loat in the water. Another physics concept that $ene%ited the #ission
was electro#agnetic wa)es which ena$led the crew to co##unicate with Mission -ontrol %or #ost o%
the #ission. (lectricity was also i#portant as it allowed the co#puters and other technology at Mission
-ontrol to %unction %or the entire #ission. Physics also had #any negati)e i#pacts on the #ission. 3t is
a pro$le# related to electricity that leads to the initial e,plosion o% the o,ygen tan'. Also o,ygen gas
lea'ing out o% the ship altered the ships tra0ectory as a result o% 4ewton/s third law. Another negati)e
i#pact was the loss o% co##unication with #ission control during reentry due to the ioni5ation o% air
around the #odule. -o##unication with Mission -ontrol was also lost as the #odule crossed to the
side o% the #oon %acing away %ro# the (arth due to the ina$ility o% electro#agnetic wa)es to pass
through the #oon. Physics also could ha)e negati)ely i#pacted the #ission i% the #odule entered the
at#osphere at the wrong angle resulting in the spacecra%t $urning up in the at#osphere due to %riction
or si#ply $ouncing o%% the at#osphere and $ac' into space.
6ince the ti#e o% this #ission technology has changed a great deal. -o#puters are %ar #ore
power%ul than they used to $e. &hey are also %ar s#aller and #ore personal than e)er $e%ore. 6pace
technology has also changed a great deal. &eleco##unications satellites now or$it the (arth ena$ling
the use o% the power%ul s#artphones that also did not e,ist during the ti#e o% this #ission. &here are
also space pro$es ro)ers and satellites that are sent across the solar syste# to o$ser)e other #oons and
planets. 3n addition to this co##unication around the world has changed greatly in the past 40 years
due to the creation o% the internet and ad)ances in cell phone technology.
&he Apollo 13 #ission is a legendary e,a#ple o% hu#an ingenuity and pro$le# sol)ing under
great pressure. &here were #any %ailures #al%unctions and pro$le#s during the #ission #any o% the#
related to physics concepts. Howe)er these physics concepts also i#pacted the #ission positi)ely and
were used $y the crew and Mission -ontrol to success%ully return the crew to (arth.