Carbon Dioxide Scrubbers: Improvised Engineering of Apollo 13

In April 1970, an oxygen tank exploded aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft, crippling the Command Module and forcing the three astronauts to evacuate into the tiny Lunar Module. As they desperately drifted around the moon, a silent, invisible killer began to build up inside the cramped cabin: their own exhaled breath. The Lunar Module was designed to support two men for two days, not three men for four days. The carbon dioxide scrubbers—filters filled with lithium hydroxide—were rapidly depleting. There were plenty of spare filters in the dead Command Module, but in a catastrophic oversight of bureaucratic standardization, the Command Module filters were square, while the Lunar Module receptacles were round. This gripping history details the most famous improvisational engineering feat in spaceflight. You will trace the frantic efforts of NASA engineers on the ground who used plastic bags, cardboard, and duct tape to build a functional adapter, saving the crew from asphyxiation. Experience the terrifying reality of deep-space survival. Discover how duct tape, cardboard, and desperate ingenuity overcame bureaucratic design flaws to bring Apollo 13 home.