Apollo 13: the Movie?

Question

There's a lot of questions i hav (i didnt really understand the movie)

1. how many days did it take to get to the moon?
2. if the trajectory is not correct on reentry, what could happen to the space craft?
3. How did they get the additional 4 amps to power the odyssey and yet remain under the 20 amp limit?
4. what was the conern about the condesnation in the odyssey?
5. what were the anticipated weather conditions after reentry?
6. why were they concerned with the heat shield, parachute, and trajectory?
7. What caused the cripplinf of Odyssey?

i know its a lot of questions. i wonder a lot. =)

Answer 1

1. how many days did it take to get to the moon?
It took the Apollo 11 a total of 8 days, 3 hours and 18 minutes to complete the entire journey from earth to moon landing and back. It took the Apollo 13 a total of 7 days to return safely. The “disappeared” around the far side of the moon on April 14th after taking off on April 11th and having the oxygen tank explode on the 13th of April.

2. if the trajectory is not correct on reentry, what could happen to the space craft?
If the trajectory us bit correct one of two things could happen, If they come in too shallow or too steep they could either bounce out of the atmosphere because they don’t have the energy to break through or they could burn up on reentry because they are at the wrong angle.

3. How did they get the additional 4 amps to power the odyssey and yet remain under the 20 amp limit?
The reason they found the 4 amps without going over 20 was because they used the remain power from the Lunar module and transferred it to the space shuttle before returning home. This is at least what they did in the movie although I have found little actual information regarding this crisis.
4. what was the concern about the condensation in the odyssey?
The concern about the condensation was that if there was so much water on the panel that it would seep into the electrical system and cause a short in the wiring which could cause a fire or other problems… main concern is electric and water don’t mix.

5. what were the anticipated weather conditions after reentry?
They were predicting a hurricane in the area but they were lucky that they were able to recover the men without it being an issue.

6. why were they concerned with the heat shield, parachute, and trajectory?
The concerns were that they did not know how much damage had been done to the entire space craft when the o2 tanks blew. If the heat shields were damaged what happened to the Columbia could have happened to the Odyssey, they would not have been protected from the heat. The parachute may not have opened because of power issues or the damage and for trajectory see answer to question # 2.

7. What caused the crippling of Odyssey?
The problem was a series of failures that individually would have not lead to the disaster but when combine were what caused the O2 tanks to explode. For more information on that see the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13

Answer 2

NASA personnel are people too. They are not robots. In fact, if you read the book "Lost Moon", which was later renamed "Apollo 13", which is much more detailed than the movie, and much more accurate, you will find lots of humor. One of the funnier things that happened was that the Grumman Corporation, builder of the Lunar Module that the astronauts took shelter in on the way back from the moon, sent a bogus bill to the North American Aviation corporation for the cost of 250,000 miles of towing. The astronauts themselves were a bunch of nutballs who used practical jokes and other silliness to cope with the stresses of training. The book "The Right Stuff" chronicles a lot of this activity. And in reality, a two hour movie only highlights the major parts of a trip to the Moon and back that took almost a week. Much of the humor tossed between the ground and the astronauts was to keep up their spirits, break the tension, and pass the time. Imagine sitting in your car with two other people for a week, no showers, no private bathroom, no privacy at all. That's about all the room they had. You might get a little silly too, but in a highly professional way. Buzz Aldrin actually joked on the Moon as he was closing the door from outside the lunar lander that he better make sure not to lock the door on his way out.

Answer 3

1. Checking Apollo 12's data, it took just short of 5 days from launch to lunar landing
2. As they say in the movie... if too STEEP an angle they burn up like a meteor and if too SHALLOW an angle they bounce off the atmosphere.
3. As I understand it... they didn't power up SOME things... and did it it a different order than the standard checklist.
4. Condesation MIGHT short out electronics... this is before the "chip" and the electronics were tons of transistors !!
5. Looking at pictures, it was a lovely day with scattered high and medium altitude clouds and a low sea-state.
6. The didn't know if the explosion in the Service Module had damaged the heat shield. They were concerned that with the power changes, the parachute pyrotechnic charges might not work. The trajectory question is answered in #2.
7. Mission Control had requested that the crew stir the oxygen tanks, a task required to prevent the oxygen ‘slush’ from stratifying. The Teflon-insulated wires that provided electricity to the stirrer motor were damaged, causing a large fire when electricity was passed through them. The fire heated the surrounding oxygen, increasing the pressure inside the tank above its nominal 1,000 PSI (7 MPa) limit, causing the tank to explode.

This explosion caused damage to other parts of the Service Module, including causing critical damage to the number one oxygen tank. The Command/Service Module (CSM) relied on the oxygen tanks to generate electricity, so as a result of the explosion, very little power was available for the spacecraft.

Good to watch a movie and wonder !! I grew up near NASA's Ames Research Station at NAS Moffett Field... that led me to being a search and rescue helicopter crewman in the Navy for 15 yrs.

Check the wikipedia link if you have more questions... you can also follow the links to NASA sites

Answer 4

1. I believe it was 3 days till they got into the Moon's orbit.
2. If they come in too shallow, they will skip off the atmosphere and back into space. If they come in too steep, they risk burning up because of the atmosphere's friction.
3. Don't know, I'm not an electrician.
4. The extremely cold temperatures in the spacecraft caused the crew's breath to condense into water droplets on the instrument panels. They were worried the electronic instruments would short out when they powered everything back up.
5. I don't know what they were anticipating....in the movie, it was clear and sunny.
6. The explosion in the Service Module went all the way up to where the SM touches the heat shield of the Command Module. They were worried that the explosion may have damaged the heat shield and parachutes essential to reentry.
7. A faulty wiring in the second oxygen tank of the Service Module caused the pure O2 to explode when they did a routine stir on the tank (a common servicing procedure).

Answer 5

can't answer all but.....
2) with the wrong trajectory the ship could actually "bounce" off and hurdle out into space if coming in too shallow, or burn up if coming in too steep.
4) the condensation could have shorted out the electrical system
5) not sure what the weather was but the situation was so dire they had to land asap. there are certain "windows" you need for re-entry, if you miss it, you have to wait for it to come around again. they couldn't wait for another shot.
6) on re-entry the ship will go through intense heat, which is where the heat shield comes into play. it protects the ship from the effects of the extreme heat. if the parachutes didn't deploy the capsule would hit the sea with such force that it would have disintegrated.
7) some say it was bad luck (apollo 13) but it was faulty wiring on an oxygen tank.

Answer 6

1. About two days, I think.
2. If the trajectory is too steep, the craft burns up. If it's too shallow, the craft bounces back into space.
3. Been to long since I've seen the movie.
4. ?
5. ?
6. Obviously, if the heat shield failed, they would burn up. If the parachute failed, they would hit the water too hard and the crew would be killed. Trajectory - they would like to touch down close to rescue craft.
7. I believe it was an oxygen tank that exploded (from a leak and a spark?) (I could be confusing this with the movie Armageddon.)

Answer 7

Wow, you watch a movie to hard

Answer 8

Can all be summed up in three words: Dumd F-cking Luck!!!

Answer 9

never watch b4..