science

Lost Moon

Lost Moon is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lost Moon rather than just read about it. In short: Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (published in paperback as Apollo 13) is a 1994 non-fiction book by astronaut Jim Lovell and journalist Jeffrey Kluger, about the failed April 1970 Apollo 13 lunar landing mission which Lovell commanded. The book is the basis of the 1995 film adaptation Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks as Lovell.

Key takeaways

Lost Moon belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lost Moon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lost Moon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 (published in paperback as Apollo 13) is a 1994 non-fiction book by astronaut Jim Lovell and journalist Jeffrey Kluger, about the failed April 1970 Apollo 13 lunar landing mission which Lovell commanded. The book is the basis of the 1995 film adaptation Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks as Lovell. Lovell was initially approached by Kluger in 1991 about collaborating on the book. Fred Haise was not interested in the collaboration, and Jack Swigert had died of cancer in 1982.

Background Apollo 13 was the third mission of the Apollo program intended to land men on the Moon. An explosion of an onboard liquid oxygen tank in the Service Module, when the craft was close to reaching the Moon, crippled the electrical power generation and propulsion systems for the Command Module Odyssey. This necessitated the abort of the lunar landing, and placed the lives of astronauts Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise in serious jeopardy. The mission became famous for the safe return of the men, made possible by the flight controllers' resourceful adaptation of the electrical, propulsion, and life support systems of the Lunar Module Aquarius as a "lifeboat".

Physical description Hardcover, 378 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T) (October 1994) Language: English ISBN 0-395-67029-2 Dimensions: 1.5 × 6.2 × 9.2 inches

References

Bibliography James Lovell; Jeffrey Kluger (1994). Lost Moon. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-67029-2. James Lovell; Jeffrey Kluger (1995). Apollo 13. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671534645. James Lovell; Jeffrey Kluger (1995). Apollo 13 (in Spanish). Barcelona Ediciones. ISBN 84-406-5685-8.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lost Moon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lost Moon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lost Moon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lost Moon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lost Moon

In research: Lost Moon appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lost Moon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lost Moon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1994 English-language non-fiction books, 1994 non-fiction books, American non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lost Moon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lost Moon in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lost Moon means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lost Moon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lost Moon in simple terms?

Why does Lost Moon matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lost Moon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lost Moon.