After creating a flawless, foolproof plan, NASA launched Apollo 13 on another mission to the moon in 1970. But they didn’t just sign off and watch the trip. They had prepared a feedback loop.[i]
A communication system is incomplete without an opportunity for the person receiving the message to send a response. It was in this feedback system that the most famous words of the entire mission were contained:
“Houston, we have a problem.”
It was a mission-critical message.
That message became more important than all the picture-perfect scripts that envisioned the crew landing on the moon safely, and it became the impetus to a daring plan to circle the moon and return without landing after an oxygen tank exploded.
Not only did the communication loop provide an opportunity to create a rescue plan, but it informed future missions. In my community, we watch SpaceX Starships launch from the beach with more weight, more power, and more miles planned for missions to Mars, but all of that knowledge is built on the missions of the past and the lessons learned from invaluable feedback both on the ground and in flight.
What if Houston had dismissed the complaint?
“Oh, those astronauts -- they’re always complaining. Just ignore them and it’ll go away.”
In healthcare, we have a terrible habit of building systems with no feedback loop. There is no way to raise red flags or share downtimes or update other departments on failures in another one.
But if NASA could pull it off in space, surely we can find a way to do it too?