Courage & Confidence

Today is the 40th anniversary of the explosion on board the Apollo 13 spacecraft which cut short the mission to the moon. An Associated Press article states that "Lovell's calm if unsettling words to Mission Control following the explosion that, 'Houston, we've had a problem' — now widely recited as, 'Houston, we have a problem' — belied his quick internal calculation that their chances of survival were slim."

All oxygen stores were lost within about 3 hours, along with loss of water, electrical power, and use of the propulsion system. The spaceship was three-fourths of the way to the moon. The astronauts were forced to move from the service module to a freezing, cramped lunar module designed for use on the moon. Their mission changed from reaching the moon to a life-and-death struggle to get back to earth.

On Dateline Matt Lauer interviewed Commander Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, two of the astronauts who survived the mission. Jack Swigert, the third crew member, died of cancer in 1982.

Several times Lauer tried to get Lovell to admit to fear, panic, and thoughts of never seeing his family again. Lovell's response? They concentrated on what they had to do to get home rather than all the things that could go wrong.

Lovell, Haise, and Swigert's courage and confidence on their four day return to earth defies understanding. In spite of low oxygen levels, freezing temperatures, and little to eat and drink, they rose above their circumstances and worked through crisis after crisis to make it safely back to earth.

Where did their courage and confidence come from?

1. They were experienced test pilots. They had trained for emergency situations and were prepared to deal with disaster.

2. They shut out negative thoughts and concentrated on overcoming the problem at hand. They did not deal in "what if" thinking.

3. They trusted the solutions that Mission Control came up with and followed directions.

4. They worked as a team. Each one did his part to reach the goal of getting home.

So what can we, as Christians, learn from the story of Apollo 13? In the next post, we'll explore that question.