The “Successful Failure” That Was Apollo 13
Shortly after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed and walked successfully on the Moon for the first time in history, another lunar mission almost ended in disaster without the valor and strong leadership it took to get three men back to Earth. Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks), Jack Swiggert (played by Kevin Bacon), and Fred Haise (played by Bill Paxton) blasted off on the Apollo 13 mission on April 11, 1970, in trying to collect samples from the surface of the Moon and survey it. Swiggert took the place of the more experienced Ken Mattingly (played by Gary Sinese) since Mattingly was the only one not immune to the measles after one of the other astronauts had contracted it. The flight surgeon on the trip ordered him to remain aground to keep both himself and the crew healthy during the flight.
After safely exiting the Earth’s atmosphere and heading on course, a routine oxygen tank stir that was required often during space missions caused a coil in the tank to break loose and erupt, creating new unforeseen problems. The blast forced open most of the oxygen tanks as they leaked into space, increased the levels of carbon dioxide within the command module the men were traveling in, and severely decreased their power capabilities. Immediately NASA assembled the best and brightest men they had on staff to assess the situation and Flight Director Gene Kranz (played by Ed Harris) called off the Moon landing, changing the final task of the mission to a safe return home. Through repeated calculation, experimentation by Ken Mattingly who knew the module systems well, and a bit of luck, the men managed to slingshot themselves around the Moon, using its gravity to head back home on course. With...
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...ntrast to the stereotypical “hero” stories where a reactive call to action is committed even though they previously failed to show leadership skills. Also I discovered that the parties involved shared similar leadership traits and each movie character can be easily traced and tied to multiple theories or skills. This shows the success of the group was almost predetermined before the accident occurred due to the experience, knowledge, and skill sets these men offered. Finally I learned that recreations of true events often correlate to actual leadership traits, which evokes me to revisit other films based on real occurrences and observe them in a deeper manner; provoking further insight and expansion into my mind about how these events parallel through leadership and quantify the importance the traits and theories presented above can maintain in all aspects of life.
...ause it was the mission that NASA was able to put the first man up onto the moon. Neil Armstrong was the pilot of the Apollo 11 flight. There was a special shuttle that was attached to the spaceship; it was called the Eagle. The Eagle was designed to transport some crew members down to the moon. Armstrong was responsible for driving and landing the shuttle safely down to the moon. While on his way down to the moon, Armstrong realized that he was starting to run out of fuel. Thankfully, Armstrong did have enough to land on the moon and make it back up to the spaceship. When the Eagle was leaving the spaceship for the first time up in space, it wasn't completely depressurized so there was something like a gas bubble come from the shuttle as it was on its way to the moon. The gas bubble moved the shuttle off course and the Eagle actually landed four miles off course.
In deed on June 6, 1944, the little town of Bedford, VA, suffered a tragedy that would never be forgotten. But through the pain and hardship some of officers who leaded the Bedford boys displayed remarkable leadership’s principles. One of the basic functions of leadership is to unite people: bring people together to achieve common objectives. There is truth in the statement, where there is unity there is strength. This essay will offer a working definition of effective leadership principles and discuss the function of leadership as it relates to followers, motivation and power.
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American space adventure film directed by Ron Howard. The film depicts astronauts Jim Lovell,
One of the backup astronauts had gotten a case of measles two days before launch, exposing the rest of the crew to the disease (Anastasio). Ken Mattingly will be replaced with Jack Swigert concerning the fact that he may develop measles on the mission (Anastasio). “Ken did get another chance to fly to the moon, as the command module pilot for Apollo 16. He later became a member of the space shuttle team” (Anastasio 90). Being this was Jack Swigert’s first mission, he had trained for space entry in an extreme case he would have to replace Ken. Which indeed, he would have to, days before the mission had
Heroes and leaders have long had a popular following in literature and in our own imaginations. From Odysseus in ancient Grecian times to May Parker in Spider-man Two, who states, “We need a hero, courageous sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. I believe there’s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble” (Raimi, 2004). Organizations need heroes, too. We call them organizational leaders. The study of organizational leadership, then, is really the study of what makes a person a successful hero. Or, what processes, constructs, traits, and dynamics embody the image of a successful leader.
How would you feel if you were on the Apollo 13 ship during the explosion? It would be pretty scary right. They faced many problems. Apollo 13 was a successful failure because it was a mission to the moon, they overcame many challenges, and surviving the free fall to Earth.
Kouzes and Posner remark that leadership experiences are ?voyages of discovery and adventures of a lifetime?[and] they are challenging explorations under rigorous conditions? (174). While this may be true, it is often in an extreme crisis situation that leadership is ultimately tested. This is the circumstance that Shackleton faced with his crew of twenty-seven, while stranded in the ice floes off the Antarctic Continent. Credit is due to the leadership of Ernest Shackleton; every member aboard the Endurance survived, and was finally rescued after six hundred and thirty-four days. Shackleton said of leadership, ?If you?re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you?ve got to keep going? (qtd. in Morrell and Capparell 215).
People ask, ”What drives us to undertake a mission?”. So, what does drive us to undertake a mission? Well, after reading the texts Barrio Boy, and Apollo 13 I think the answer is determination. Both Ernesto and the Apollo 13 astronauts used determination to undertake their missions.
Despite this, Neil went on to continue his work with the project and commanded the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong, along with his crew, courageously strapped themselves onto a rocket that was built with parts provided by the lowest bidder, a rocket that malfunctioned and was hotfixed just minutes before launch. He flew into space, a location where the slightest malfunction could result in disaster, a location where rescue is impossible. He continued with the mission despite losing contact with mission control several times, contact that was vital to help control the descent onto the moon
Astronauts have changed of the years, so have the equipment, technology, and teams. Over years most things improve, this is no exception when it comes to space travel. This doesn’t mean that things don’t get left behind. Things that were considered the best back then,might even become obsolete, but other become legends. In this article you will find information about Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11, and the technology they used to send the first man on the moon.
There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
On April 13, 1970, NASA's Mission Control heard the five words that no control center ever wants to hear: "We've got a problem here." Jack Swigert, an astronaut aboard the Apollo 13 aircraft, reported the problem of broken down oxygen tanks to the Houston Control Center, less than two days after its takeoff on April 11th. Those at the Control Center in Houston were unsure what had happened to the spacecraft, but knew that some sort of explosion had occurred. This so-called explosion sent Apollo 13 spinning away from the Earth at 2,000 miles per hour, 75 percent of the way to the moon. In order to get the astronauts back to the Earth's atmosphere would be to utilize the moon's gravitational pull and send them back towards home, like a slingshot. However, this procedure would require three days, and this demanded more oxygen and electricity than the crew had available to them. Eugene "Gene" Kranz, head of this flight mission, although looking on in horror, began thinking of solutions to the problem immediately after the Controls were aware of the problem on board. Knowing that the options of refueling the spacecraft with oxygen or retrieve the astronauts himself, he needed to think of a strategy for a safe return. In this sense, if his solution fails, it could result in the biggest catastrophe in NASA history.
This report is an analysis of Leadership in the movie Wall Street (1987), directed by Oliver Stone. This report explored the concept of leadership and how it depicted in the movie. The reports explain leader’s use of power and influence tactics. As the report proceeds it shows leader’s attributes and style and how it influences on movie character’s action and the environment in which they operates. In the end, it gives an analysis of the effectivness of the learder.
He stated “Failure is not an option.” He had them work and bring in the other teams to help come up with ideas. The scene in the board room with the team going over the route the astronauts are on how many hours they had left, and he said it wasn’t acceptable. They need more than what was on the board and to figure it out. The next decision was to turn off the power to the spaceship to conserve the resources they had on board. Then the engineer team had to come up with a way to eliminate the CO2 levels in the cabin with the supplies that were available to the astronauts. The scene in the film was done in a room with a few guys making a box with hose and the control room telling the astronauts how to assemble the box. Mission Controller John went to Mattingly home to get him to help navigate the spaceship back to earth. There was a concern the spaceship wouldn’t make it due to it was built for this type of incident. The scene is when the man talks to Gene about how the LM wasn’t built for anything but landing on the moon. Gene told them to figure something