• Apollo 13’s Astronauts Survived Disaster 50 Years Ago. Could It Happen Again ? - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/science/apollo-13-anniversary.html

    Apollo 13 almost killed three NASA astronauts.

    Will it be safer the next time people head to the moon, more than 50 years later?

    “Safer, yes,” said Douglas O. Stanley, president and executive director of the National Institute of Aerospace, a nonprofit research institute in Hampton, Va. “We have more reliable systems now.”

    Think of the half-century of advances in other modes of transportation. New cars are chock-full of anti-lock brakes, airbags, automatic emergency braking and backup cameras — innovations that were lacking in cars on the roads in 1970. Safety systems now automatically apply the brakes if a train is going too fast around a curve. Jetliner crashes are much rarer, even as the number of flights has multiplied.

    Rockets and spacecraft are also becoming much more sophisticated. “The parts are more reliable,” Dr. Stanley said. “Rocket engines are more reliable than in the ’60s.”

    That means the next trip to the moon, anticipated later in the 2020s, should be safer — but not safe.

    “Spaceflight, you’re operating in a pretty difficult environment,” said Gene Kranz, the flight director who was in charge in mission control on the night of April 13, 1970, when Apollo 13 went awry.

    À côté de cet article explicatif des différences entre le projet Apollo et l’actuel projet Artemis, le verbatim des échanges entre Houston et Apollo 13 se lit comme un véritable roman à suspens. Le calme des astronautes comme celui des équipes à terre est impressionnant. Pour le fan de la conquête spatiale que je fus dans ma jeunesse, le texte est particulièrement émouvant.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/science/apollo-13-anniversary.html

    #Espace #Apollo_13