Programmed in 1970, the lunar mission failed to reach the moon as planned, but with prudent leadership and teamwork, seemingly impossible challenges were overcome and completed without any loss of life.
“Like Shackleton, I am a person who likes to struggle with unexpected challenges. When you see that things are not as they should be, or when you realize that something is going to go wrong, you have to think ahead.” The Apollo 13 commander said these words in a speech to the National Science Foundation during his mission visit to Antarctica in January 2000. Captain Lovell called Shackleton’s management of the Endurance voyage, which saved the entire crew, “miraculous leadership”. “We had the same attitude on Apollo 13: always look forward as long as you see a chance”.
“Houston we have a problem”
Like Shackleton, Captain Lovell was 42 years old when he faced the biggest test of his life. On the third day of their journey, the astronauts on Apollo 13 were finishing a television broadcast when the oxygen tank exploded. The accident destroyed the fuel cells that powered the spacecraft’s electrical and propulsion support systems. Just when they thought, “It can’t get any worse,” they realized that oxygen was escaping from the command module into space. Captain Lovell then uttered the historic words to the command and control center: “Houston, we’ve had a problem”. The crew of John L. Swigert Jr. and Fred W. Haise Jr. were 350,000 kilometers from Earth and it would have been overly optimistic to think that they would make it back in these conditions.
With 15 minutes of oxygen left in the command module for their life support systems, the crew left the module for the cramped lunar module, where they would spend four days fighting for survival. The lunar module was designed to hold two people for 45 hours. The Apollo 13 crew was to act as a lifeboat for three people for 96 hours, as directed by the Houston Mission Control Center. The lunar module, which could barely fit two people, was too narrow and uncomfortable for three. The temperature was so freezing as to make it impossible to sleep. They had to reduce the amount of food and water they needed and this caused them to become dehydrated. Captain Lovell lost 7 kilos in the process. During this time, they used their creativity to build survival tools out of various materials they had on hand, such as cardboard, adhesive tape and plastic bags. At the most critical point in the process, when they had to make the final move to turn back, they had no way of reading the sextant to determine their direction.
Although the exhausted crew aboard the spacecraft found it very difficult to distinguish the flickering light of the sun from the stars, they performed the procedures they needed to perform with great skill and astonishing precision, using the sun as a navigation tool. As a result, they were able to enter the atmosphere at the right angle. If they had been off by more than one degree, Apollo 13 would have embarked on an endless journey deep into the vacuum of space.
Nearly 54 years after the Endurance crew traveled for six days in the Arctic sea, disembarked from their lifeboat and set foot on Elephant Island, the Apollo 13 crew also returned to the spacecraft from the lunar module. They immediately began the perilous journey back. With little information, the skills they had acquired in training, and the subtle maneuvers and decisions they made, sometimes based on intuition, they landed safely hours later on a spot in the Pacific Ocean near the Sampo Islands.
Captain Lovell praised the excellent cooperation of the brilliant scientists and engineers at the Houston Command and Control Center for the journey that led to their survival. He said that the detailed plans and instructions they provided, combined with the skill of the highly trained astronauts, had produced the result.
Comparing their situation to Shackleton’s, he emphasized that without such external support, he had managed the whole process himself, using the potential of his teammates. “In a situation where everyone’s life is at stake, it is very important that every team member knows his or her role. In Apollo 13 there was no panic, no one was cursing the situation, no one was complaining, we were all trying to figure out what was broken and what wasn’t working and how to make it work again.”
In difficult circumstances, people pull together and rely on the guidance of their leaders. In such situations, one person must always act as a leader.
Captain Lovell was the most experienced astronaut of his time in space. He also made important contributions that would advance space exploration in many ways. In 1965, he was the pilot of Gemini 7, the record-breaking 14-day stay in space that led to the rendezvous of two spacecraft. The following year he was the commander of the last leg of the Gemini mission. On Gemini 12, Buzz Aldrin walked in space for the first time and used his instruments to demonstrate that it was possible to make repairs to a spaceship. Captain Lovell later piloted the first Apollo 8 flight outside Earth orbit, the most important step in the journey to the moon. During that flight, millions of people watched in amazement and excitement as they watched a live television transmission. Apollo 13 was Lovell’s fourth and final mission.
Shackleton went to the South Pole with Scott in 1901 and traveled 350 miles before returning. Later, in 1904, he organized an expedition on his own and went as far as 90 miles to the South Pole, earning the title of “The Most Southerly Man”. After Amundsen reached the South Pole, he raised the bar and planned to enter the South Pole from the opposite direction, pass over the pole and meet his friends in the Ross Sea. This dream, which was impossible given the conditions and possibilities of the day, ended before it began when his ship got stuck in the ice in the Waddel Sea before reaching land.
Shackleton followed his passion even after his return. What is most impressive about his leadership is that 8 members of his Endurance team joined him on this voyage to the South Pole after months of life and death. To be on his team was to be called “Shackleton’s man” and to be worthy of unconditional trust in all things. Shackleton died of a heart attack on the island of South Georgia, the morning after a night of reminiscing about past voyages.
Captain Lovell later retired from the manned space program and went into business. He received numerous honors. Among them was the National Geographical Society’s Hubbard Medal, also awarded to Shackleton. He wrote the story of Apollo 13 in his book Lost Moon, written with Jeff Kluger.
Conclusion
One of the main things that Captain Lovell and Shackleton have in common is that they never tire and are constantly seeking new challenges. This is a trait that grows stronger as they overcome crises, due to the self-efficacy they have gained as a result of their struggles with adversity. Lovell explains, “One must always look forward. You can’t live your life resting on your laurels. I am always looking for new horizons, new projects and new goals”.
