{"id":8241,"date":"2014-07-03T22:51:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T02:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8241"},"modified":"2014-07-03T22:51:28","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T02:51:28","slug":"improvised-co2-scrubber-saved-the-apollo-13-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8241","title":{"rendered":"Improvised CO2 scrubber saved the Apollo 13 crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader points me to this interesting post with lots of details and images showing\u00a0how\u00a0the Apollo 13 crew and support team on the ground devised an improvised\u00a0CO2 scrubber from miscellaneous items available in the Command and Lunar Modules :\u00a0This is the actual hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII – Sploid<\/a><\/p>\n

After Mission Control decided to cancel Apollo XIII’s moon landing following an explosion of an oxygen tank in the Service Module, the astronauts moved to the Lunar Module in order to save power that was going to be needed later for re-entry.<\/em><\/p>\n

The only problem with this plan was that the Lunar Module was designed for only two people for a 36-hour period, not three astronauts for 96 hours. They quickly discovered that carbon dioxide was building up fast, putting their lives in extreme danger. They had to change the circular CO2 scrubbers in the Lunar Module for clean ones, but they only had spare square CO2 scrubbers from the Command Module.<\/em><\/p>\n

In record time, the Crew Systems Division put together an improvised adapter using all sort of weird and random parts, like a flight manual cover, suit parts, and socks. CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) transmitted the instructions to the astronauts in order to assemble this “mailbox” rig\u2014as they called it\u2014working against the clock and trying to surive fight the effects of the poisonous gas which was quickly asphyxiating their brains.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Apollo13CO2Scrubber_564x415\"
\n<\/a>A picture of the “hacked” CO2 scrubber in the Apollo 13 module.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reader points me to this interesting post with lots of details and images showing\u00a0how\u00a0the Apollo 13 crew and support team on the ground devised an improvised\u00a0CO2 scrubber from miscellaneous items available in the Command and Lunar Modules :\u00a0This is the actual hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII – Sploid After Mission … Continue reading Improvised CO2 scrubber saved the Apollo 13 crew<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-living-in-space","category-space-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-28V","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16224,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16224","url_meta":{"origin":8241,"position":0},"title":"Run a realistic Apollo 8 guidance computer emulation","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"December 21st of this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the\u00a0Apollo 8 mission\u00a0to the Moon. Astronauts\u00a0Frank Borman,\u00a0James Lovell, and William Anders\u00a0became the first humans to leave Earth and orbit another celestial body. The mission was extremely risky. The\u00a0Saturn\u00a0V\u00a0rocket had only launched twice before and never with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ScreenCap-Apollo8Computer-RickBooze-1r.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14655,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14655","url_meta":{"origin":8241,"position":1},"title":"Video: Apollo 11 lunar landing anniversary","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been 48 years since humans first walked on the Moon and 45 years too long since humans walked on the Moon. July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind\u00a0 https:\/\/youtu.be\/hxPbnFc7iU8 July 1969. It's a little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin and Shepard, followed quickly by President\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/as11-40-5961hr1-1017x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8336,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8336","url_meta":{"origin":8241,"position":2},"title":"Video: Apollo 11 Moonwalk","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday July 20th will be the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. 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Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971 on what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"MoonSycamore","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/MoonSycamore.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3525,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3525","url_meta":{"origin":8241,"position":4},"title":"Celebrate the Apollo 11 landing today","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the 44th anniversary of the first time a human walked on another world. 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