Apollo 13 Failure

On April 11th 1970 the Apollo 13 Lunar Mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aboard Apollo 13, 3 astronauts—Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise—were seeking to be the third mission to land on the moon. 56 hours into the flight the members of the ground crew of Mission Control in Houston, Texas listened as the 5 words NASA never wants to hear resonated through the speakers: “Houston we have a problem.” These words were immortalized during the apprehensive days of the Apollo 13 lunar mission crisis. Additionally, it can be said that Apollo 13 was one of the greatest success stories of human achievement and triumph. Director Ron Howard recreated these epic and historical events in the 1995 movie Apollo 13. The Apollo
Failure in not an option.
The binary scenes between the flights crew in space and the ground crew in Houston depict the collective action of both parties and the importance of teamwork in accomplishing a goal. Apollo 13 was not seen merely as one disaster but a series of “cause and effect” disasters, each one building on the previous. In the face of this action the flight crew remained remarkably calm, analyzed the situation, communicated with the ground crew and took action. Similarly in Houston the ground team worked together as a team, analyzing the series of problems and working together to arrive at a assuredness of purpose and plan. The switching between the scenes in space and those on the ground were fast, sporadic and at times overlapping, especially during the climax of the disaster. This exemplified the coinciding responsibilities and symbiotic relationship of both teams. As well, a major
Gene Krantz, Apollo 13’s flight director exhibited true leadership. Gene is known for two quotes, both of which can be seen in the trailer: “Failure is not an option.” and “We’ve never lost an American in space; we sure as hell aren’t going to lose one on my watch. His refusal to even consider failure as a possibility was a significant factor resulting in the return of Apollo 13 to earth. Although addressing the multitude of complex, compounding issues and problems facing the safe rescue of the flight crew, his perfect vision—seeing things not as they were, but as they will be—was important because it refused members of the team to engage in negative thinking. As well Lovell’s wife when asked by news reported about the events voiced her positive thinking and determined attitude, “Take it up with my husband, he will be here on Friday.” The background music of the trailer crescendos along with the heightened intensity of the events. The statement by Lovell at the beginning of the trailer, “There is nothing routing about flying to the moon,” through irony foreshadows such an epic, out-of-the ordinary event. Ultimately, the Apollo 13 crew under these facts and circumstances and knowing that these astronauts barely survived the closest encounter with death in space; was nothing short of a real, true life miracle. The story is nonetheless true, and