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Today Puzzle #720

Puzzle No. 720– Friday 17 April 2020

Today is the 50th anniversary of the splashdown of Apollo 13 after its ill-fated 6-day mission. Its three astronauts returned safely, a tribute to a huge team of engineers and scientists. Apollo 13 was launched by a Saturn Five rocket with a mass of 3,000 tonnes but it splash-landed with a mass of only 5 tonnes. Where did all that mass go?

Today’s #PuzzleForToday has been set by Hugh Hunt, Reader in Engineering Dynamics and Vibration at Trinity College, Cambridge

Click here for the answer

fuel

The Saturn V rocket which launched Apollo 13 into space weighed 2922 tonnes, mostly fuel (Kerosene and Oxygen). The Apollo spacecraft weighed only 29 tonnes.The Landing module was jettisoned, as was the service module leaving 5 tonnes.

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