Launch facility · Experimental products · Mission control
Work the problem
Apollo 13 is a launch facility for experimental products. Things get built, tested and flown here. Each one is a mission: it has a designation, a launch date, a status and a flight log. Some come back. Some don't. Both are data.
Current phase—
Velocity— ft/s
Range to Earth— nmi
Next event——
Flight log
The whole flight, on a loop
142 hours, 54 minutes and 41 seconds from liftoff to splashdown, replayed end to end against universal time. The line in amber is happening right now. The one under it is next, and the clock on the right counts down to it.
Flight plan rev. C · times are ground elapsed, hhh:mm:ssLoop —
Instruments
Mission Operations Control Room
Every number on a scope. The flight director does not look at the vehicle, he looks at these. Four teams work the room in eight-hour shifts; the one on console right now is lit.
Flight rules
Decided before launch, not during
Flight rules are written down when nobody is under pressure, so that under pressure nobody has to decide. Four of ours.
FR 1-1
Work the problem
When something breaks, the first move is to read the data, not to guess. Panic is scheduled for later and usually cancelled.
FR 1-2
Test as you fly
Every build is checked through the real server on four screen widths before it is called flown. What was not tested does not exist.
FR 1-3
Ship the lifeboat
A rough thing that works today beats a polished thing that works never. Polish is a second launch, not a reason to delay the first.
FR 1-4
Everything is telemetry
Logs, numbers, screenshots. Decisions are made on what the instruments say, and the instruments are kept honest.
Capcom
Comms are one-way for now
This is a working facility, not a storefront. There is no form, no newsletter and no chat bubble. If a mission here is relevant to you, you already know how to reach the crew.
No cookies. No analytics. No third-party scripts. The only thing this page measures is time.
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