Home▸Space & Astronomy▸Apollo 13 CO2 Crisis: The Mailbox Scrubber Fix

Apollo 13 CO2 Crisis: The Mailbox Scrubber Fix (2D)

Relive the Apollo 13 carbon-dioxide crisis in 2D: watch cabin CO2 partial pressure integrated live from real crew respiration vs. lithium-hydroxide scrubber chemistry, then toggle the 'mailbox' adapter and see the genuinely computed change in time-to-danger.

Space & Astronomy2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Details

CategorySpace & Astronomy

RenderingCanvas 2D

DifficultyModerate

Target FPS60

ControlsAdjust crew size (2 or 3) and mission clock speed; flip the mailbox adapter switch at any time to route the Command Module's square canisters onto the air loop and watch the live CO2-vs-time chart and cabin visualization respond; pause/resume and restart the mission at any time. A computed panel shows the real time-to-danger with the fix on vs off.

apollo-13life-supportco2-scrubberspace-historyeclssnasa

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When Apollo 13's oxygen tank exploded, three astronauts had to squeeze into a Lunar Module life-support system built for two — and its carbon-dioxide scrubbers began to run out. This 2D companion simulation integrates the same real gas-buildup mass balance as the 3D version: CO2 partial pressure climbs from crew respiration via the ideal gas law while lithium-hydroxide canisters absorb it against a fixed stoichiometric capacity, and a live toggle for the historic square-peg-round-hole "mailbox" adapter shows the genuinely computed difference it makes to how long the crew had before reaching dangerous CO2 levels.

⚙ Under the hood

Relive the Apollo 13 life-support crisis: watch carbon dioxide build up in the crowded Lunar Module cabin as the LiOH canisters saturate, then build the real square-peg-round-hole 'mailbox' adapter that brought the Command Module's spare canisters online in time to save the crew.

apollo-13life-supportco2-scrubberspace-historyeclssnasa

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install