Work the Problem

In April 1970, an oxygen tank exploded aboard Apollo 13 on the way to the Moon. The lunar landing was abandoned, and the team on the ground worked with the crew for four days to bring them home using a spacecraft never designed for the job. Work the Problem treats the mission and the 1995 film as a case study in structured crisis response: how a team establishes command, prioritizes under severe constraint, improvises safely and communicates with discipline. You don't need to have seen the film.

Begin the experience

Introductory

Modules

Module 1

The First Thirty Minutes

Anchor scene

The Explosion

In this module

Recognizing a crisis vs. a bad day
Standing up an incident structure quickly
Information triage and stopping speculation

Course outcomes

Distinguish a crisis from a bad day and stand up a clear response structure in the first minutes
Name who decides, who advises and how expertise reaches the decision-maker, before the crisis starts
Set explicit triage criteria, run parallel workstreams and test improvised solutions before committing
Keep one clear channel to the people doing the work and communicate accurately to many audiences
Run a debrief that fixes the system, supports people and leads to changes that actually get made

Potato™

Your Couch Scholar AI Learning Coach

Observe

Hi, I'm Potato. Think of me as your learning companion for this course. I'm here to help you notice what matters, explore ideas, make connections, and challenge your thinking. I'll sometimes answer your questions — and sometimes ask you one instead. That's how we learn together. We're inside Work the Problem, working from Apollo 13, and you're starting with The First Thirty Minutes, a module in the Observe stage. Before we interpret anything, tell me what stood out to you.

Try starting here