Convergence of Technology in Government

“OKAY, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” The now famous words were transmitted through space down to Houston after the Apollo 13 crew attempted to stir the cryogenic oxygen tanks. The otherwise-standard procedure caused a series of electrical shorts and subsequent problems, leaving the command module unable to generate power, provide oxygen, or produce water. Bounded by space thousands of miles from Earth, the situation was dire for the Apollo 13 crew.

NASA engineers on the ground had very little information. The crew shared their observations, and the spacecraft was transmitting some data, but these inputs didn’t give engineers on the ground a perfect picture. To better understand what had happened and what consequences the crew faced, the NASA team in Houston used a mirrored system of the Apollo 13 spacecraft, allowing them to duplicate the situation as accurately as possible. NASA had effectively created a twin—in this case, anomaly and all—on which they could work at the space center in Houston. Indeed, with the information gleaned from this system, engineers in Houston were able to produce a solution by modifying an air filter, allowing the Apollo 13 crew to return safely to earth on April 17, 1970.