Apollo 13 Oxygen Tank STEM Case Study

Investigate the Apollo 13 oxygen tank explosion with this 6-page STEM packet covering thermodynamics, life-support chemistry, power math, and ethics.

Engage your middle and high school students with a comprehensive, hands-on deep dive into the most famous “successful failure” in human spaceflight history. This complete printable unit bridges aerospace engineering, thermodynamics, and chemistry to teach supercritical cryogenic storage, Teflon wire insulation failures, fuel cell power generation, lithium hydroxide CO2 scrubber geometry, and emergency orbital trajectory mechanics.

What’s Included in this 6-Page Unit Packet:

Page 1: Historical Case Study & Technical Breakdown – Full narrative of the April 13, 1970 explosion 200,000 miles from Earth, cryogenic liquid oxygen tank architecture, electric fan stir short-circuits, fuel cell shutdown, and comprehension check questions.

Page 2: Day in the Life Scenario Challenge – Roleplay assignment where students step into the shoes of an EECOM Flight Controller at NASA Mission Control in Houston, analyzing real-time telemetry logs, pressure drops, and Lunar Module lifeboat activation.

Page 3: Hands-On Unplugged Simulation & Applied Math – Step-by-step math calculations comparing oxygen depletion rates, power consumption amp-hour budgets, and square versus round Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) canister scrubbing capacities.

Page 4: Engineering Ethics & Workplace Dilemma – Critical thinking exercise exploring manufacturing drop accidents versus ground test anomalies, 65-volt heater overvoltages through 28-volt thermostatic switches, and pre-launch anomaly sign-off ethics.

Page 5: Redesign Brief & Innovation Lab – Creative blueprinting assignment where students design “Apollo Service Module Cryo System V-2,” incorporating an isolated third oxygen tank, stainless steel wire routing, universal CO2 canister adapters, and emergency battery buses.

Page 6: Teacher Answer Key & Scoring Rubric – Complete answer key for all analytical questions and math calculations, along with a 10-point grading rubric for evaluating student blueprints on Page 5.

Teacher Benefits:

100% Print-Friendly Format: Clean text layout with zero dark background boxes or awkward formatting for easy editing and printing.

Multi-Day Classroom Value: Designed to cover 3 to 5 full class periods. Perfect for Physics, Physical Science, Aerospace Science, Chemistry, CTE electives, or emergency sub plans.

High-Interest Real-World Content: Combines real NASA telemetry data, electrical short-circuit math, life-support chemistry, space ethics, and spacecraft engineering redesign!