If this solution does not provide the desired outcome of improved communications and better decision-making, NASA should hire a consulting team to help them encourage brainstorming and develop an open communication environment where people would feel comfortable to express their ideas. NASA should also consider developing contingency plans and training astronauts to act in emergency situations in order to improve team cohesiveness and ensure crew's safety.
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Statement of the Problem.
The Apollo 13 accident highlights a few obvious problems that NASA is currently facing. The main problems are compromised crew safety, absence of formal launch decision-making structure, and lack of contingency plans. All of these issues must be addressed prior to the next NASA space mission in order to avoid such accidents from happening in the future. .
The Apollo 13 malfunction was caused by an explosion and rupture of oxygen tank number 2, which was taken out of the service module of Apollo 10 and damaged in the process (4). All oxygen stores on Apollo 13 were lost within about three hours, along with loss of water, electrical power, and use of the propulsion system. During pre-flight testing, oxygen tank number 2 showed anomalies and would not empty correctly due to the damaged fill line (1). The Apollo 13 crew's safety has been compromised when NASA did not address the problem seen in oxygen tank number 2 prior to launch. Most likely the decision to ignore this problem has been based on the previous success of the Apollo 10 mission. There was an unnecessary launch time pressure put on the astronauts, when Jim had to decide whether to take on a new crew member or give up his mission. Such decisions should be made by NASA executives rather than a flight commander, who is often not in a position to make an objective decision. If Jim would not have been given the opportunity to try realizing the dream of his life his life, to walk on the moon, at the cost of breaking a performing team, it is possible that the Apollo 13 accident could be prevented.
