The Movie Apollo 13

The movie Apollo 13 is based on a true life event capturing the story of one of NASA’s mission to land on the moon. The designated astronauts were Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Ken Mattingly who was later replaced by Jack Swigert due to a suspicion of measles infection. The mission took a bad turn when the spacecraft’s equipment malfunctioned causing a loss in oxygen. Due to this incident, the mission objective of landing on the moon was compromised and therefore the team was forced use the remaining resources they had to return to earth.

Some concepts highlighted in class which can also be linked to the movie are discussed as follows. First is the concept of decision making which involves selecting a course of action. Decision making in many cases can be complex, comprising of features such as uncertainty, high risk and interpersonal issues. Drawing from the movie, the Apollo 13 crew was faced with multiple scenarios that required making decisions in the midst of complexity. For example, the decision to replace Ken Mattingly with Jack Swigert due to a measles infection was a complex decision. This is so because the mission was being exposed to uncertainties arising from risks created by adding a less trained and experienced crew member.

Another concept discussed in class was the steps in making decisions. The steps are listed as follows; create a constructive environment, generate alternatives, explore the alternatives, choose the best alternatives, check decision, communicate your decision, and act on decision. Some of these steps were evident from the movie. For instance, the leader of the crew, Lovell created a constructive environment by quelling the dispute between his crew members and refocusing their objective. Two alternatives they had to consider were either to land on the moon after losing an oxygen tank or to utilize the oxygen the had left to return to earth. Based on the advisory of the ground team, Lovell chose to the

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