Apollo 13: The Successful Failure

A detailed Summary of Apollo 13: The Successful Failure

The movie I chose was Apollo 13, it is about the "successful failure" of the Apollo 13 mission. Jim Lovell, the captain of the Apollo 13 spacecraft, is the character I picked to write about. Lovell is faced with many life or death decisions and is forced to choose between a life-long dream and a life with his family.

Jim Lovell is a man of values. He has a strong sense of self-identity, self-esteem, integrity, and confidence. But most importantly Lovell is able to prioritize his values so that he is able to identify what is most important in tough situations and is able to bring out the best in everyone around him to get the job done, and done right. When faced with a tough situation such as whose fault it is for the escalade of problems that occur because of the stirring of the oxygen tanks, Lovell says that when it comes down to the bottom line, he stirred the tanks. But no matter how grim the situation looks, because Lovell has such high values for himself, his family, and his crew, he will let nothing stand between what he knows himself and others are capable of doing. Lovell always does what is best for himself and those around him, he did not compromise the Apollo 13 mission because Ken Mattingly might have contrac

ted the measles, he made the executive decision to take Jack Swigert in his place; otherwise, none of the men would have gotten to go on Apollo 13. Jim Lovell is a man of integrity because he is honest, he told those around him how he felt, but never made anyone feel bad. And with the confidence he has in himself, Lovell knows that deep down he will get his men home, because that is his responsibility.

I do not think there is much that I could tell Jim Lovell that would have helped him. The skills I have leaved in EDT 110 are all very useful and important to life. But my impression of Jim Lovell is that he possessed all of these skills and that he knew when and how to use them. If I could tell him anything though, it would probably be that he would need to make sure his crew is mentally more prepared for anything before they leave Earth. Even though the men are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to leave for the moon, they are not as ready to face and deal with disaster.

Meritocracy plays a large role in the NASA programs, in terms of diversity. He is just as capable as any other person working in the program, and has proven that he is just as capable by successfully completing all missions he has been assigned to. In order to be assigned to a certain mission a certain number of hours must be held in training, so that the crew and support staff has the experience necessary to complete the mission. Lovell knows that he is just as capable as Neil Armstrong is, but because Armstrong was next in line to go into space he got to land on the moon. On Apollo 13, Lovell is the captain of the mission because he has the most experience out of any man in the crew. He has gone on previous missions into space and knows what to expect and how his body will respond to the different atmosphere, or lack there of.

I believe that Jim Lovell is a very intriguing character because he a real person. He was not created in someone's mind and he does not disappear the moment you walk out of the movie theater or away from the television. He is a living, breathing, eating, and sleeping person like you and me. He has feelings and emotions and was faced with decisions that are not very far from what you and I might one day deal with, or have dealt with in our lives. The choices that Lovell made impacted not only himself, but also the men in his crew, his family, his crew's family, the members of NASA Mission Control in Houston, the United States, and the world. While the crippled Apollo 13 was traveling through space and on its way back to Earth, the entire world watch

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Approximate Word count = 1746
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies