Apollo 13 after 50 Years: An Inspiration for Our Times

When we look for examples of unquestionable success, the first moon landing often receives mention. It was a success of superbly trained astronauts, of American technology and of our entire civilization. (“We came in peace for all mankind.”) It was also a success in the field of government promises. In 1961, President John Kennedy declared that the U.S. would send people to the moon by the end of the decade, and it happened. The entire world commemorated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 last year.

By contrast, this year hardly anyone is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 13. On the face of it, it was the only failed moon mission. The one expedition out of seven that did not land on the moon, because it suffered a breakdown. But this very time of the coronavirus pandemic — with which no nation on earth knows how to cope — changes that perspective a bit.

The Apollo flight, when viewed as a rescue from a great dilemma, comes off as a tremendous success, with a return to earth after a seemingly hopeless disaster. For the sake of completeness, we give the chronology:

11 April - Apollo 13 launches.
13 April – En route to the moon, following the unexpected explosion of an oxygen tank, it loses most of its power and ability to navigate and purify air.
15 April – In an emergency measure, it loops around the moon.
17 April - Apollo safely splashes down in the Pacific.

Now, in our atmosphere of pandemic, uncertainty and quarantine, let us try to sum things up. If we evaluate success and failure by spectacular performance and sticking to the plan, the Apollo 11 expedition remains top-notch. But success and failure can be measured differently: by the ability to deal with an unexpected situation, to improvise and to invent and produce tools for survival; by the ability to cooperate with flight management from a distance (“Houston, we’ve had a problem”); by whether or not one can tackle a seemingly hopeless accident, when at first no one would wager much on your survival.

From that standpoint, one can label the rescue of Apollo 13 the greatest success in manned space flight; 50 years ago, people got through it. Which is reminiscent of the current situation. Today the world is once again dealing with a situation for which it has not been trained.