Astronauts, Efficiency and Apollo 13
Astronauts, Efficiency and Apollo 13
NEWSROOM: Xcel Energy
CONTENT: Blog
I know that some people don’t think that energy efficiency is very compelling, but there are a lot of astronauts who would disagree with that. In space, energy efficiency literally saves lives. When Apollo 13 lost electrical power, the astronauts’ survival came down to their ability to conserve enough energy to bring them back to Earth. After shutting down all “unnecessary” systems, how much power do you think they had? The equivalent of what it takes to run a coffee pot. Amazing.
I know for a fact that two real astronauts, Gene Kranz, the Gene Kranz, lead flight director on the Apollo 13 mission, and Pamela Melroy, a career NASA astronaut, think energy efficiency is interesting.
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