6 ms·

The hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII

72 points by chton 12y ago

valarauca1 12y ago
The creativity and ingenuity of small intelligent teams, with barely any resources, and extreme time constraints never ceases to amaze me.
- skywhopper 12y ago
  It shows the value of giving very smart individuals a well-defined goal and uninterrupted time to work on it. It's a good case study in creative productivity.
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    Maybe a well-defined goal is an understatement It is a extremely well defined goal, under strict constraints (but a lot of liberty otherwise - for example, using the flight plan cover) and under a lot of pressure. You can have immense bursts of productivity this way, but it also wears you out a lot.
poopsintub 12y ago
If they sealed the bag around the canister with duct tape, couldn't they just tape one of the 3 bags if it ripped?
- chton 12y ago
  Possibly, but I assume the astronauts would have been the judge of that if it did happen. Remember they were also very constrained on how much duct tape they had, so using a spare may have been more efficient than using more tape.
  - nthj 12y ago
    Ah! That explains the small strips of duct tape—tear it lengthwise to double your available tape.
    - chton 12y ago
      Exactly. Even if they had a hundred rolls, it would still have been good practice to be frugal with it. They run into similar things on the ISS: everything is limited except for vacuum. Being efficient and careful with resources is extremely important in those environments;
twosheep 12y ago
On my first day of engineering school we were given this problem and similar materials to work with. Pretty much the best possible "real world" exercise that focuses on limited materials, time, and most importantly, simplicity of design and manufacture.
- th3iedkid 12y ago
  would like to know what were the results with lots of people trying out different approaches..
matthewmcg 12y ago
This is a good reminder to re-read Lost Moon, Jim Lovell's account of the mission.
coreymgilmore 12y ago
This took McGuivering to a whole new level.
basyt 12y ago
[x] duct tape McGyver didn't lie.
Patrick_Devine 12y ago
The hack is awesome, but to me the real lesson is the importance of modularity. If North American Aviation and Grumman had standardized on the same part the hack would have been moot. Just take the part from the LEM and stick it in the CSM. End of story. I fully comprehend the tradeoff here though, particularly when it comes to tight deadlines and weight tolerances. The CO2 scrubber in the CSM didn't need to be as beefy as the one in the LEM, and the two air filtration systems were designed by different companies where coordination would have been a bitch. It's the classic software engineering trade off, isn't it? Add more dependencies or DIY. I wonder how the ISS deals with this in the US vs Russian parts of the station?
- TorKlingberg 12y ago
  I have worked a bit on things related to the ISS. From what I learnt, it is basically two space stations stuck together with an adapter. The smaller Russian part was launched first and is self-contained, basically a MIR 2. The US/international part was then added piece by piece, with each part having a specialized function. Visiting Russian spacecraft can only dock on the Russian side and the Space Shuttle only on the US side, unless it brought an adapter. I'm sure there were still many compatibility issues. For example the European ATV docks on the Russian side.
  - barking 12y ago
    The American dock is presumably now defunct with the Shuttles retirement
  - Patrick_Devine 12y ago
    This made me curious and I found this page on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing_Mechanisms#Adapters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing... Totally fascinating subject. It wasn't clear to me if Dragon 2 is going to use the APAS-95 connector (what the Shuttle used), or the newer NDS connector. It also made me think.. was there some kind of adapter used for Apollo missions after Apollo 13 for the CO2 scrubbers? Or was the hack the "official way" of getting around problem?
gioele 12y ago
Are there public records of who came up with the hack?
- PaddleSlapper 12y ago
  I don't know about public records, but if you believe this Reddit AMA, it was an MIT grad student. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xove1/iama_97_year_old_that_worked_apollo_missions_1/c5oaobm http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xove1/iama_97_year_old...
incision 12y ago
>'It seems amazing to me that he looks so calm and cool when they were actually being poisoned by their own CO2 and without knowing if they were going to make it alive to Earth.' Though our problems aren't close to same order of magnitude - keeping calm under pressure is something I feel is rare and under-appreciated in technology. More than once I've seen a person start shaking so bad they couldn't type or slot in a replacement module while working a serious outage. Amusingly, I've also had a new manager flip-out and actually interfere with my triage efforts because I 'didn't look like I was taking the problem seriously' (read: calm). I wonder what sort of techniques could be adapted from elsewhere to teach the tech engineers of the world how to hold it together?
- keithpeter 12y ago
  Well, the three astronauts were selected from a pool of test pilots, itself a pretty highly selected group. You might have a few problems widening all that out to a larger population. Looking at the astronaut training, its procedures, procedures, knowledge of all the systems and practice on ground simulations. Does anyone run simulations? You know a small network that simulates various disasters and lets your systems admin crew work through e.g. triage
- robertfw 12y ago
  I highly recommend reading Chris Hadfield's book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth". He talks a lot about remaining calm under pressure, and how astronauts train to burn that mentality in. Beyond that, it's simply a great book.
- jdmichal 12y ago
  I think the biggest factor to overcome would be confidence. To remain calm, you must be confident in both your abilities and those of the people you are trusting. If you have this confidence, then there is no reason not to be calm, as you know you will work through the situation.
- johngalt 12y ago
  Calmness is crucial for anyone in a triage situation. You have to be able to make correct decisions under pressure. In my experience most large outages are caused by a panicked response to a small outage. Additionally it's important for many other reasons. If you seem outwardly anxious or worried it will magnify the fears of those depending on you. If the expert is worried, then people who depend on the expert will be hysterical.
squidfood 12y ago
That scene in the movie ("you have to make this, fit into this, using these") was a big aha moment for me, in realizing just how fundamentally hard space travel really was. I'm very glad to learn it wasn't movie-exaggerated.
fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
>This is the mother of all hacks, the genius device that saved the Apollo XIII crew from dying in their emergency return to Earth, Not to detract from the accomplishment; but I'm confident that the astronauts would have been able to figure this out by themselves if needed, and didn't do so because of the command/control nature of NASA missions. The instructions could have been shortened to: Fit the Command Module scrubber filter to the Lunar Module's filter hole. Use tape and plastic to seal the rig for proper airflow.
- oddevan 12y ago
  I also wonder if there were other issues on-board that required their attention or otherwise diverted on-board brainpower. Not to mention they had a limited amount of equipment on-board, so they basically had ONE CHANCE to get it right; no room for trial-and-error. There was a surplus of equipment on the ground, so they had more of a chance to make mistakes and get it right before directing the crew on-board. So yes, they would have been able to figure it out if needed, but I think there are other reasons besides NASA's (infamous) bureaucracy.
  - fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
    >so they basically had ONE CHANCE to get it right; no room for trial-and-error. That isn't necessarily so, but it is definitely prudent to optimize the use of their limited supplies. To be fair, I agree it's better that they had more people looking at the problem, and I agree that it was the right thing way to do it; but it isn't as though astronauts are chimps, or even that mere mortals are always unable to improvise non-standard solutions.
  - johansch 12y ago
    Also: humans perform intellectual tasks quite poorly when their brains are being oxygen-deprived.
mzs 12y ago
Pretty sure this thread from 2011 is the source, has all the same text and images: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=105500&s=b4fc00db6d1b757d8c879f3fe0555fc5&p=1516704&viewfull=1#post1516704 http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=105500&s=b4fc00db6d1b... I skimmed the thread and it looks like at least two people made their own replicas. The most surprising thing to me is that you can get used Apollo lithium-hydroxide canisters just like those pictured on ebay!

72 points by chton 12y ago

The creativity and ingenuity of small intelligent teams, with barely any resources, and extreme time constraints never ceases to amaze me.

skywhopper 12y ago
It shows the value of giving very smart individuals a well-defined goal and uninterrupted time to work on it. It's a good case study in creative productivity.
- raverbashing 12y ago
  Maybe a well-defined goal is an understatement It is a extremely well defined goal, under strict constraints (but a lot of liberty otherwise - for example, using the flight plan cover) and under a lot of pressure. You can have immense bursts of productivity this way, but it also wears you out a lot.

poopsintub 12y ago

If they sealed the bag around the canister with duct tape, couldn't they just tape one of the 3 bags if it ripped?

chton 12y ago
Possibly, but I assume the astronauts would have been the judge of that if it did happen. Remember they were also very constrained on how much duct tape they had, so using a spare may have been more efficient than using more tape.
- nthj 12y ago
  Ah! That explains the small strips of duct tape—tear it lengthwise to double your available tape.
  - chton 12y ago
    Exactly. Even if they had a hundred rolls, it would still have been good practice to be frugal with it. They run into similar things on the ISS: everything is limited except for vacuum. Being efficient and careful with resources is extremely important in those environments;

twosheep 12y ago

On my first day of engineering school we were given this problem and similar materials to work with. Pretty much the best possible "real world" exercise that focuses on limited materials, time, and most importantly, simplicity of design and manufacture.

th3iedkid 12y ago
would like to know what were the results with lots of people trying out different approaches..

matthewmcg 12y ago

This is a good reminder to re-read Lost Moon, Jim Lovell's account of the mission.

coreymgilmore 12y ago

This took McGuivering to a whole new level.

basyt 12y ago

[x] duct tape McGyver didn't lie.

Patrick_Devine 12y ago

The hack is awesome, but to me the real lesson is the importance of modularity. If North American Aviation and Grumman had standardized on the same part the hack would have been moot. Just take the part from the LEM and stick it in the CSM. End of story. I fully comprehend the tradeoff here though, particularly when it comes to tight deadlines and weight tolerances. The CO2 scrubber in the CSM didn't need to be as beefy as the one in the LEM, and the two air filtration systems were designed by different companies where coordination would have been a bitch. It's the classic software engineering trade off, isn't it? Add more dependencies or DIY. I wonder how the ISS deals with this in the US vs Russian parts of the station?

TorKlingberg 12y ago
I have worked a bit on things related to the ISS. From what I learnt, it is basically two space stations stuck together with an adapter. The smaller Russian part was launched first and is self-contained, basically a MIR 2. The US/international part was then added piece by piece, with each part having a specialized function. Visiting Russian spacecraft can only dock on the Russian side and the Space Shuttle only on the US side, unless it brought an adapter. I'm sure there were still many compatibility issues. For example the European ATV docks on the Russian side.
- barking 12y ago
  The American dock is presumably now defunct with the Shuttles retirement
- Patrick_Devine 12y ago
  This made me curious and I found this page on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing_Mechanisms#Adapters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing... Totally fascinating subject. It wasn't clear to me if Dragon 2 is going to use the APAS-95 connector (what the Shuttle used), or the newer NDS connector. It also made me think.. was there some kind of adapter used for Apollo missions after Apollo 13 for the CO2 scrubbers? Or was the hack the "official way" of getting around problem?

gioele 12y ago

Are there public records of who came up with the hack?

PaddleSlapper 12y ago
I don't know about public records, but if you believe this Reddit AMA, it was an MIT grad student. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xove1/iama_97_year_old_that_worked_apollo_missions_1/c5oaobm http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xove1/iama_97_year_old...

incision 12y ago

>'It seems amazing to me that he looks so calm and cool when they were actually being poisoned by their own CO2 and without knowing if they were going to make it alive to Earth.' Though our problems aren't close to same order of magnitude - keeping calm under pressure is something I feel is rare and under-appreciated in technology. More than once I've seen a person start shaking so bad they couldn't type or slot in a replacement module while working a serious outage. Amusingly, I've also had a new manager flip-out and actually interfere with my triage efforts because I 'didn't look like I was taking the problem seriously' (read: calm). I wonder what sort of techniques could be adapted from elsewhere to teach the tech engineers of the world how to hold it together?

keithpeter 12y ago
Well, the three astronauts were selected from a pool of test pilots, itself a pretty highly selected group. You might have a few problems widening all that out to a larger population. Looking at the astronaut training, its procedures, procedures, knowledge of all the systems and practice on ground simulations. Does anyone run simulations? You know a small network that simulates various disasters and lets your systems admin crew work through e.g. triage
robertfw 12y ago
I highly recommend reading Chris Hadfield's book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth". He talks a lot about remaining calm under pressure, and how astronauts train to burn that mentality in. Beyond that, it's simply a great book.
jdmichal 12y ago
I think the biggest factor to overcome would be confidence. To remain calm, you must be confident in both your abilities and those of the people you are trusting. If you have this confidence, then there is no reason not to be calm, as you know you will work through the situation.
johngalt 12y ago
Calmness is crucial for anyone in a triage situation. You have to be able to make correct decisions under pressure. In my experience most large outages are caused by a panicked response to a small outage. Additionally it's important for many other reasons. If you seem outwardly anxious or worried it will magnify the fears of those depending on you. If the expert is worried, then people who depend on the expert will be hysterical.

squidfood 12y ago

That scene in the movie ("you have to make this, fit into this, using these") was a big aha moment for me, in realizing just how fundamentally hard space travel really was. I'm very glad to learn it wasn't movie-exaggerated.

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

>This is the mother of all hacks, the genius device that saved the Apollo XIII crew from dying in their emergency return to Earth, Not to detract from the accomplishment; but I'm confident that the astronauts would have been able to figure this out by themselves if needed, and didn't do so because of the command/control nature of NASA missions. The instructions could have been shortened to: Fit the Command Module scrubber filter to the Lunar Module's filter hole. Use tape and plastic to seal the rig for proper airflow.

oddevan 12y ago
I also wonder if there were other issues on-board that required their attention or otherwise diverted on-board brainpower. Not to mention they had a limited amount of equipment on-board, so they basically had ONE CHANCE to get it right; no room for trial-and-error. There was a surplus of equipment on the ground, so they had more of a chance to make mistakes and get it right before directing the crew on-board. So yes, they would have been able to figure it out if needed, but I think there are other reasons besides NASA's (infamous) bureaucracy.
- fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
  >so they basically had ONE CHANCE to get it right; no room for trial-and-error. That isn't necessarily so, but it is definitely prudent to optimize the use of their limited supplies. To be fair, I agree it's better that they had more people looking at the problem, and I agree that it was the right thing way to do it; but it isn't as though astronauts are chimps, or even that mere mortals are always unable to improvise non-standard solutions.
- johansch 12y ago
  Also: humans perform intellectual tasks quite poorly when their brains are being oxygen-deprived.

mzs 12y ago

Pretty sure this thread from 2011 is the source, has all the same text and images: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=105500&s=b4fc00db6d1b757d8c879f3fe0555fc5&p=1516704&viewfull=1#post1516704 http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=105500&s=b4fc00db6d1b... I skimmed the thread and it looks like at least two people made their own replicas. The most surprising thing to me is that you can get used Apollo lithium-hydroxide canisters just like those pictured on ebay!