
The hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII - chton
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-the-actual-hack-that-saved-the-astronauts-of-th-1598385593
======
incision
_> '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?

~~~
Consultant32452
Nearly every place I've worked I've had two divergent messages come my way.
The first is usually that I'm really productive, positive member of the team,
and this shows up in reviews, promotions, etc. The other is that I just don't
look like I give a shit about anything we're doing. The truth is that I
honestly don't get emotionally invested in any of it. I'm emotionally invested
in my career and love new technology, enjoy learning, etc. But if the
proverbial shit hits the fan then it's a minor nuisance because I'll probably
be working late for the night or for the next few weeks depending on how big
of a problem has arisen.

~~~
incision
I can relate.

 _> 'The truth is that I honestly don't get emotionally invested in any of it.
I'm emotionally invested in my career and love new technology, enjoy learning,
etc.'_

I think there's a lot of wisdom in those sentences. Basically, invest in
internal (personal) goals and see the external (workplace) ones served as a
natural extension of that.

It's easy to reverse that and find yourself hamstrung or run ragged by
bullshit which you don't necessarily have any control over.

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Patrick_Devine
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
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.

~~~
Patrick_Devine
This made me curious and I found this page on wikipedia:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_Docking_and_Berthing_Mechanisms#Adapters)

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?

~~~
thmorton
> 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. Dragon 2 will use a newer connector, scheduled to go up on one of
> the future Dragon missions, replacing the current APAS-95 connector. A bit
> sad to see it go. :(

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twosheep
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
would like to know what were the results with lots of people trying out
different approaches..

------
fnordfnordfnord
>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
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
>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.

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valarauca1
The creativity and ingenuity of small intelligent teams, with barely any
resources, and extreme time constraints never ceases to amaze me.

~~~
skywhopper
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
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.

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squidfood
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.

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mzs
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=b4fc00db6d1b...](http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=105500&s=b4fc00db6d1b757d8c879f3fe0555fc5&p=1516704&viewfull=1#post1516704)

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!

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poopsintub
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
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
Ah! That explains the small strips of duct tape—tear it lengthwise to double
your available tape.

~~~
chton
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;

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matthewmcg
This is a good reminder to re-read _Lost Moon_ , Jim Lovell's account of the
mission.

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

~~~
PaddleSlapper
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...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/xove1/iama_97_year_old_that_worked_apollo_missions_1/c5oaobm)

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coreymgilmore
This took McGuivering to a whole new level.

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basyt
[x] duct tape

McGyver didn't lie.

