Leadership in Apollo 13

An excellent example of the importance of facts based on real time information can be taken from the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. The first indication that the mission was experiencing difficulty was when James Lovell, the on-board commander of the spacecraft, noticed that they were venting something into space which suggested that one of the oxygen tanks might have ruptured. Shortly thereafter, there was more bad news:

Though a moon landing had been eliminated by the loss of the first oxygen tank and fuel cell, the second system should still carry the astronauts safely home. Lovell noticed, however, that the pressure needle for the second tank was falling as wellÐ'.... Normally the tank should register 860 pounds per square inch (psi);

now it was approaching 300. The explosion had come at 9:07 p.m., and the clock was now just past 10:00 p.m. At that rate of loss, the spaceship would exhaust all of its electricity and air sometime between midnight and 3:00 a.m. (The Leadership Moment, pg. 69.)

The rescue mission was ultimately successful, and there were many reasons that led to its success. One of the reasons it was successful was that Eugene Kranz, the flight director, insisted on having real time factual information on which he and his team could make life and death decisions.

A scene from the film Apollo 13 depicts a situation wherein the astronauts would soon be asphyxiated if they could not reverse the carbon dioxide buildup in the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module). The astronauts could build a system to vent the CO2 if they could join two pieces of equipment together. However, joining those two pieces of equipment would be like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. A team at the NASA ground station used identical pieces of spare parts that were on board the LEM and explored every possible alternative to see if they could connect the two pieces of vital equipment. The team succeeded in connecting the two pieces and the astronauts were safe Ð'- at least for the time being.

Share Commonly Agreed-Upon Goals

One of the most famous lines from the film Apollo 13 is "Houston, we've got a problem", the other is "Failure is not an option." Kranz used the second phrase to help all the team members focus on their commonly agreed-upon goal, which was bringing the astronauts back safely.

"At no time did we ever consider that we weren't going to get the spacecraft and crew home Ð'..." He boldly told a press conference, "It's not a question if we're going to get them home; it's a question of how much we're going to have left when we get them home." (The Leadership Moment, pg. 82).

At this point in the drama the crippled Apollo 13, with the help of the moon's gravitational force was heading back to earth. The astronauts hadn't slept for twenty-four hours and were long overdue for their six-hour rest period. The rest period would also mean that the crew would be utilizing less of the mission's critical remaining oxygen supply. Lastly, the crew would have to be fully alert during the critical re-entry maneuvers, so a well rested crew was imperative. On the other hand, other members of mission control were strongly advocating an immediate PTC (Passive Thermal Control) roll. They felt strongly that the PTC roll was necessary