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STANDARDS
CCSS: 3.MD.A.1
TEKS: 3.7C, 4.8C
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Space Escape!
How three astronauts on the brink of disaster made it home
Heritage Space/Heritage Images via Getty Images (Lovell, Haise); HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (Swigert)
From left to right: Jack Swigert, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise
On April 11, 1970, commander Jim Lovell and pilots Fred Haise and Jack Swigert entered the Apollo 13 command module. Their mission was meant to be the third moon landing by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. space agency.
At first, everything went according to plan. Then disaster struck. NASA’s team on Earth, led by flight director Gene Kranz, raced to find ways to bring the astronauts home safe.
NASA viewed the Apollo 13 mission as a “successful failure.” The astronauts never made it to the moon. But NASA engineers learned many lessons for building future spacecraft that continue to help keep astronauts safe today.
April 11, 1970: It was launch day for the Apollo 13 mission. Lovell, Haise, and Swigert were ready.
"Can you believe it? In just a few minutes, we'll be in space!"
From Houston, Texas, NASA controllers monitored data from the astronauts’ suits and the rocket’s computers.
"They're counting down."
"Get ready, team!"
The engines fired. The rocket launched into the air. The three astronauts were headed to the moon!
April 13: The crew barreled through space for the next two days. They were busy doing many tasks. They even gave a televised tour of their tiny home for people on Earth to watch.
"This is the Odyssey command module."
"And this is what Fred and Jim will be flying when they land on the moon."
"Look! They're floating!"
Then, at 11:06 p.m. ...
"We’d like you to stir up your cryo tanks."
"Turn on the fans in the oxygen tanks? You bet."
The whole ship rocked. An explosion drained the Odyssey's power and oxygen.
"Houston, we have a problem here!"
April 14: Mission Control saw one option: Use the Lunar Module (LM) as a life raft. This would save the oxygen and power left in the Odyssey for its return to Earth.
"Move to the LM!"
"Hurry!"
Mission Control planned a course to get Apollo 13 home. The craft would slingshot around the moon and back to Earth, arriving in three days.
"They'll need to drink less water and use less power to make it back."
"We have to make it work."
With less power, the LM quickly became very cold. But the astronauts did as they were told.
"Need any water, Jack?"
"No, save it for later."
April 15: Soon a new deadly problem emerged: With every breath, carbon dioxide (CO2) built up in the LM. NASA engineers needed to figure out a way to filter it out quickly using only parts on board!
"What if we use the filter cells from the Odyssey?"
"But they’re square!"
"The LM cell ports are round..."
"Listen close...You’re going to build an adapter for the Odyssey’s filter cells."
"Roger that."
"How can we build something we can't see?"
With duct tape, plastic bags, and other random materials, the crew built the adapter.
"CO2 levels are falling back to normal.'
"That was close!"
April 17: The course around the moon worked. As the astronauts approached Earth, they went back in the Odyssey. The LM and service module wouldn’t make it through Earth’s atmosphere. They had to be released.
"Whoa!"
"What an explosion that was!"
Finally, the Odyssey and its crew returned safely.
"Splashdown! They made it!"
"Great work, everyone!"
"Home sweet home!"
Illustration by Gary Hanna
APOLLO 13 SPACECRAFTOnce in space, the outer rocket falls away. Then the spacecraft has three main parts.
What other strategies could you use to calculate elapsed time?
Elapsed time is the amount of time between the start and end of an event. You can use a T-chart to help you keep track of your solution.
Example
If you started watching the 1995 movie Apollo 13 at 5:45 p.m., it would end at 8:05 p.m. How long is the movie?
Draw a T-chart and write the start time in the left column.
Write a friendly number of hours or minutes to hop forward in the right column. Record the new time.
Continue hopping forward until you reach the end time.
Time
Hours and Minutes
5:45 p.m.
+ 2 hours
7:45 p.m.
+ 15 minutes
8:00 p.m.
+ 5 minutes
8:05 p.m.
2 hours 20 minutes
So the movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes long.
The flight crew began entering the command module at 2:33 p.m. The rocket launched at 3:13 p.m. How much time elapsed?
A. 30 minutesB. 40 minutesC. 60 minutes
The televised tour started at 10:27 p.m. and ended at 10:59 p.m. How long did the tour last?
At 12:49 a.m., the crew had only 15 minutes before the Odyssey’s oxygen level would be too low to survive. By what time did the crew have to leave the Odyssey to stay safe?
A. 12:59 a.m.B. 1:04 a.m.C. 1:13 a.m.
The ship was estimated to run out of water 5 hours before landing at 10:13 p.m. on April 17. At what time would the water have run out?
An alarm for high CO₂ levels went off at around 11:45 p.m. on April 14. The astronauts had settled in the LM earlier that day at 1:11 a.m. How long did it take for the CO₂ to rise to dangerous levels?
A. 22 hours and 34 minutesB. 23 hours and 45 minutesC. 25 hours and 12 minutes
The astronauts started building the adapter at 9:21 a.m. It took them 3 hours and 19 minutes to complete it. At what time did they finish?
It took about 3 hours and 30 minutes to separate the Odyssey from the two other modules. The task ended around 12:45 p.m. At what time did the process start?
The Odyssey splashed down in the Southern Pacific Ocean at 2:07 p.m. on April 17, 1970. At 10:30 p.m. that night, the astronauts stepped off a plane in Houston. How long did this leg of the trip home take?
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