Apollo 13: One of the Greatest Success Stories
"Failure is not an option." - Gene Krantz, Apollo 13 Flight Director
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Apollo 13: One of the Greatest Success Stories of Human Achievement and Triumph
I was planning to post today Part 4 of the 5-part series on the phenomenal Success Manual by Wallace D. Wattles, "How to Get What You Want." As it turns out, however, today marks the 40th anniversary of the return to Earth of the crew of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. I am going to change the schedule a bit.
The Apollo 13 Lunar Mission launches with the lift-off the immense and powerful Saturn V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
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In my humble opinion, Apollo 13 is one of the greatest Success stories of all time. I can think of no other true, real life accounting of the triumph of the human will and Spirit to overcome such adversity, with so much at stake (human lives). The story of Apollo 13 is the ultimate Success; it was a true MIRACLE.
The damaged Apollo 13 Service Module as seen from the Command Module after separation shortly before the Apollo 13 Crew re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. As can be seen, the explosion caused severe damage, ripping open the Service Module.
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Whether you are familiar with the Apollo 13 story or not, I strongly urge you to see the 1995 movie by Ron Howard, Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris, among other brilliant actors. Yes, the movie is a product of Hollywood and obvious "artistic liberty" has been taken to further dramatize this cinematic version of the real life story. But, the story is nonetheless true and this well produced movie is incredibly inspiring.
I remember Apollo 13 quite well. The world stood still, watched and prayed for the safe return of the astronauts. Overcoming all odds, they did return - and in most remarkable fashion.
Members of the ground crew of Mission Control in Houston, Texas, gather to discuss the disaster-plagued Apollo 13 spacecraft and returning the flight crew safely to Earth.
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Why did Apollo 13 Succeed? When every indication was that the fate of the stranded astronauts should have ended in worse case disaster, how was it that they were able to return to Earth safely?
Books could be written (and have been written) on the subject. For what it is worth, let me throw in a few very brief "two cents" of my own observations.
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The Flight Crew. The Apollo 13 crew, led by Commander Jim Lovell, refused to give-up, remained cool under fire, worked together as a team, and only considered one ultimate outcome: returning to Earth safely. With each disaster - indeed, Apollo 13 was not just one disaster, but a series of "cause and effect" disasters, each one building on the previous - the crew remained remarkably calm, analyzed the situation, communicated with the ground crew, and took Action. They refused to fall into "victim consciousness" and allow the external events and circumstances take control of their thoughts and emotions. It is impossible to Succeed while under the controlling spell of "victim consciousness."
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The Ground Crew - Mission Control (Houston). Similarly, Houston worked well as a team, analyzing the series of problems and working together to arrive at Definiteness of Purpose and Plan. A major difficulty with the entire Apollo 13 disaster was that at the time, nobody - flight or ground crew - knew exactly what had happened and how to fix it (assuming that it could be fixed). The flight crew, while being at the event, could not see the results of the initial explosion. They were in the dark. Houston was not in much better position. However, the ground crew did have telemetry from spacecraft instrumentation. While not understanding the cause of the problems, Houston did know how dire the situation was and it was only deteriorating - quickly. In the end, what "broke" on the Apollo 13 service module was never fixed. Instead, the ground crew came together and developed a Plan of Action with only ONE Purpose: safely return the Apollo 13 crew to Earth. Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork.
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Gene Krantz, Apollo 13 Flight Director. In the movie Apollo 13, Gene's character was played by the colorful Ed Harris, who portrays the flight director brilliantly. It was Gene's refusal to even consider failure as a possibility and to LEAD his NASA ground team that may have been the single most significant factor resulting in Apollo 13's safe return to Earth. While yet addressing the multitude of complex, compounding issues and problems facing the safe rescue of the flight crew, Gene had perfect Vision: seeing things not as they were, but as they will be. His attitude and consciousness was perfect "Success Consciousness" and he would not allow any of his team members to engage in negative thinking or "victim consciousness." Gene is known for the following two quotes, which I have adopted and use frequently when confronted with my own obstacles: "Failure is NOT an option" and "We've never lost an American in space; we sure as hell aren't going to lose one on my watch." True Leadership, true Vision.
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Prayer. Yes, prayer. The entire world - from the United States to communist China - watched in real time as the disaster and subsequent events unfolded. In response, humanity banded together in Thought and Prayer. Focused Thought and focused Prayer joined with the Universal Consciousness of our Creator. The power of Prayer is immense; when the entire world joins together in Prayer for a united cause, there is only but one outcome: MIRACLE. The safe return to Earth of the Apollo 13 crew under these facts and circumstances was nothing short of a true, real life MIRACLE. There is no other explanation.
The crew of Apollo 13 on board the USS Iwo Jima after safely returning to Earth.
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The Success story of Apollo 13 should serve as a reminder to us all that ANYTHING is possible. ANYTHING.
To your Health, Wealth, Prosperity and Success,
The Success Manual Team
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Watch the Apollo 13 Movie Trailer
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