Interior view of "mail box" for purging carbon dioxide from Lunar Module

AS13-62-8929 (11-17 April 1970) --- Interior view of the Apollo 13 Lunar Module (LM) showing the "mail box," a jury-rigged arrangement which the Apollo 13 astronauts built to use the Command Module (CM) lithium hydroxide canisters to purge carbon dioxide from the LM. Lithium hydroxide is used to scrub CO2 from the spacecraft's atmosphere. Since there was a limited amount of lithium hydroxide in the LM, this arrangement was rigged up to utilize the canisters from the CM. The "mail box" was designed and tested on the ground at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) before it was suggested to the problem-plagued Apollo 13 crew men. Because of the explosion of one of the oxygen tanks in the Service Module (SM), the three crew men had to use the LM as a "lifeboat".

air purification apollo 13 apollo project carbon dioxide removal components life support systems lunar module onboard activities spacecraft cabin atmospheres johnson space center apollo apollo program interior view interior view mail box mail box carbon dioxide carbon dioxide lunar module high resolution lithium hydroxide lithium hydroxide canisters purge carbon dioxide command module service module arrangement three crew men crew men canisters spacecraft center oxygen tanks astronauts nasa

14/04/1970

NASA

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