Lessons from Apollo: Countdown

Whenever we think of a rocket launch, the first sound we associate it with is that of a countdown, with final seconds ticking by... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… and then at 0 the mighty rocket rising up on a thunderous fireball.

The countdown creates a dramatic effect, but it serves a much crucial purpose. And, although we typically notice a countdown in those few seconds, it actually starts months earlier. It’s a lengthy and complex process, involving thousands of people across multiple facilities. Every major rocket system has its own countdown schedule and they all converge together into a master countdown for the whole stack. Shortly before the launch director gives the commit signal, he takes Go/No-Go status from his launch control team to determine whether to proceed with the launch. Another interesting feature of a rocket countdown is the built-in hold periods. At certain point, the countdown is halted to give engineers time to sort of any backlog of issues.

The concept of countdown can be implemented with great effect to organize our personal activities. For example, consider you are organizing an event. You can list out activities leading up to the event, order them in a time-linear sequence. You can schedule sync-up points with any contractors or other agencies to have a better understanding of whether to continue as per the prescribed plan or whether any corrective actions are required. And, using the concept of countdown hold periods, we can allocate a day or a week to clear up any pending tasks, before resuming with the main flow.

[The attached image shows a page from Apollo 11 Saturn V launch countdown.]

Lessons from Apollo: Redundancy

Right since its inception, NASA has been obsessed with redundancy. Every important component in the spacecraft has a backup, and in case of mission-critical systems, there are multiple backup systems. For example, consider the onboard computers of Space Shuttle that control critical phases of each mission. There are four computers working in parallel and in tandem, and -- in addition -- there’s another, fifth computer used as a backup, which uses a completely different architecture and programming.

The importance of having redundant systems has been highlighted time and again across many missions. And I feel that this approach deserves consideration in our personal lives as well.

We should inculcate a habit of asking a series of what-if’s.. What if this system breaks down? What if that approach doesn’t work? What if the particular person is not available? How do you recover important data if phone is lost? What if credit card is stolen? What if online bank account is hacked?… After asking each question, we ought to go further and come up with a tangible solution to each what-if and make sure that the solution is known to all the stakeholders.
Apart from making us ready to address the specific problems, this thinking prepares us to act quickly and efficiently even when an unforeseen problem appears. The mission control team had not specifically prepared for the contingency of an oxygen tank blowing up in space, but they had thought of so many other, similar points of failures and implemented built-in redundancies that they were ready to act when an explosion of catastrophic proportions occurred during the Apollo 13 mission.

Lessons from Apollo: Mission Control and Flight Directors

When NASA began preparations for landing a man on the Moon, they didn't have much experience to fall back upon. They had to build almost everything from scratch. As the scientists worked hard to formulate new alloys and materials, engineers worked to create new technologies and instrumentation, senior managers devised new management techniques and operational procedures, one man, Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr, envisioned two paradigms that would bring all of these threads together: The concept of a Mission Control Center and the position of a Flight Director.
Early in the planning phase for Mercury series, Kraft realized that the complexity of each mission called for a centralized decision-making institution. Equipped with state-of-the art computers, massive data bandwidths, well-trained team of specialists monitoring each aspect of the spacecraft and flight, this facility would be the nerve-centre for conceptualizing, planning, training, monitoring and finally executing each space mission. Thus was born Mission Control - Houston, to which each astronaut would communicate with and rely upon during their journey towards heavens.

Kraft then went even further. If Mission Control was the nerve centre, then Flight Director was its brain. He used flight controllers as his input sensors, processed the information and directed all the stakeholders towards the future course of actions. The Flight Director's position was unique: He had absolute authority to take any action to ensure safety of the crew and the spacecraft and to achieve the mission objectives. No one could overrule him when the flight was in progress.
Chris Kraft, naturally, was the first flight director and he mentored the generation of tough and competent folks who have become legends in their own right: Eugene Kranz, Glynn Lunney, and many more.

When we think of space and space missions, we immediately think of astronauts. But they are just one, and the more visible part of the whole picture. The Mission Control and its Flight directors mostly work behind the scenes and they are equally instrumental in expanding the human frontiers in space.

Lessons from Apollo: Mission Rules

Apollo Moon landings were highly complex missions and involved a huge amount of technical information, processes, operational procedures, and so on. It would have been impossible for anyone to absorb all of this effectively and share it with the people who needed to use it make quick but potentially life-threatening decisions.

So the architects and planners came up with a novel concept: Mission Rules.

Basically, mission rules were high-level guidelines about WHAT to do in case of a particular scenario. What to do if 2 out of 5 Saturn V rocket engines shut down abruptly? What to do if the spacecraft was supposed to do X but it was doing Y. Everyone responsible for the mission, the flight control team, simulation team, the astronauts, systems engineers, participated in the formulation of these rules, and this activity comprised a significant chunk of the mission preparation time.
The mission rules were consolidated into huge documents, and they were frequently referred to by mission control team and a copy was always carried onboard the spacecraft.

Interestingly, all of us actually use a kind of mission rule book throughout our lives. When we are born, our minds are (almost) a clean slate. As we grow up, we learn from our parents, family members, friends, teachers, books, other media, and most importantly, our own experiences. All of these come together at a subconscious level to determine how we react to any situation.

I feel that the concept of mission rules would come very handy in streamlining our thought-processes. It forces us to keep asking what-if, why-not, how-to type of questions to ourselves, and at least try to come up with answers. Secondly, it helps in sharing our knowledge with others in a more effective way. Next, it helps avoid knee-jerk reactions without thinking the things through. And lastly, it takes off a lot of stress from the knowledge that we have some preparation done for most, if not all, situations.

Lessons from Apollo: Data uplink

You must have experienced this situation one time or the other. You need to drop off two or more folks at different destinations, and you have discussed about it. Then, a short while later, all of you get in the vehicle. As you go half the distance, one of the persons exclaims, “Hey, you took the wrong turn! I was supposed to go over there!!”

“But..” You say, puzzled, “Didn’t we discuss that you would be going here ?”

“Nooo…”, says he (but usually it is a 'she' in such cases)… “That was the ORIGINAL plan, but afterwards I changed my mind and now I want to go there… I thought you knew it, or did I forget to tell?”

This scenario can be just a minor irritation, or it may turn into a full-fledged sledging contest. Is there any solution?

It turns out that the answer lies in the launch sequence of Saturn V, the mighty rocket that launched Apollo spacecraft towards Moon.

The rocket as well as the spacecraft had guidance and navigation maps pre-loaded into their computers. However, just a couple of minutes before the lift-off, there was a final data uplink from launch control center to Saturn V - Apollo, which updated their guidance and navigation systems with latest information.

So, That’s what you do, too. Just before you turn on the ignition key, casually narrate the sequence of stoppages or the route you intend to take, and only after all the participants give you a GO, fire up your F1 engines.

Apollo 11

Which event would you consider as the highlight of 20th century? Which event do you think represents humanity at its best? Which event would you have liked to witness in real life?
These are all subjective questions, and there would be a variety of answers to each one. 
For me, it would be that moment on 20th July 1969 when Neil Armstrong, US astronaut and commander of Apollo-11 mission, stepped off the lunar module Eagle and planted the first footprint on the Moon. 
That moment marked a successful culmination of decade-long hard work, blood,sweat, tears, and life sacrifice by astronauts, the flight control, and the 4 lakh men and women who worked day and night,often at the cost of their personal lives and relationships, to achieve the goal set by their charismatic president John F Kennedy. Today is the 49th anniversary of this historic event.
My fascination with NASA in general and Mercury-Gemini-Apollo missions in particular began around the age of 15 years, when my father handed me a rare edition of Imprint magazine titled "Voyage to the Moon: The Story of Apollo-11". Not only did I finish it within a month, I also translated it into Marathi, but only up to the point where I couldn't think of the perfect words to capture the essence of first words by Armstrong as he stepped on the Moon: "That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind." And, even today 20 year later, I still haven't.
During this Golden Jubilee year (2018-2019) of Apollo-11 mission, I plan to specifically focus on searching, collecting and reading all the available literature on this subject, be it astronaut biographies, flight journals, NASA technical reference manuals, and so on. Wherever possible and per my ability, I will endeavour to review them.
Neither Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the Moon, nor Eugene Cernan, the last man to leave it, are with us today. Mankind must continue the space exploration that they pioneered; and I really hope to see humans landing on Mars during our lifetime.
Take a moment to step out of the house and look up at the Moon tonight. It looks so far, and yet reaching it represents just venturing just a bit beyond our doorstep. The vast space still beckons us.

Boarding pass for NASA mission to Mars

Just enrolled my name on the next mission to Mars on @NASAInSight. 

Here's the supercool cool boarding pass!