Apollo 13 (1995) - Failure Is Not an Option Scene (6/11) | Movieclips 

It's a funny line but a terrible analogy, a vacuum cleaner is an insanely wasteful machine for what it tries to do, so much is lost to heat and sound. The machines on Apollo 13 on the other hand would have been designed to peak efficiency.

Funny thing: I'm studying for the ASVAB, and when I'm in the electronics section, sometimes I'm not sure I crunched the numbers right on an Ohm's law problem, but if it has something do with with current (amperes) I remember this quote and get it right almost every time. It's a good way to judge how many amps a smaller device might need, which is usually what the question is about. Vacuum cleaners can now run on 12 amps, but a coffee maker does not use 12 amps.

lhy2209 yes but that's not the point, the point is to make it relatable to the general public watching the movie. Not everyone knows anything about a LM battery, but almost everyone knows what a vacuum cleaner does. And not many people worry about how inefficient a vacuum cleaner is :)

Exactly. That line is more or less a 4th wall point to the audience. To give an impression of what kind of insanity they were dealing with. Most people including me watching that scene was like: How much power are we talking about here? Can't be that much. This is NASA. - '...vacuum cleaner..' Me: *Oh shit. lol*

Funny thing about the noise: most vacuum cleaners are *designed* to be noisy. Because most consumers think "louder = more powerful". :P

Hands holding pen cut to hands on side :D

And accept they don't know everything.

That's why Ripley is the greatest.

There’s no point having the best team in the world if you don’t listen to them. Excellent team and excellent leadership. Kranz is an example to us all.

Theomite, I've just been through Ripley! it's a dump!!

I reckon that the vacuum cleaner runs on 110VAC. It would take much more than 11 Amps at 28VDC that the Apollo power buses supplied, if it all it could.

Fast forward 40 years, and we can, indeed, run a vacuum cleaner on 12 amps, lol

Much like the movie John Aaron pointing out that the Command Module has to draw no more than the power needed to operate an original Mr. Coffee coffeemaker (which in itself wasn't around in 1970).

this was back in the 70s also

@The Fandom MenaceBack then, Coke cans were big hunks of steel, instead of the cheap tin cans they have today, what a joke!

I know, I could see this clip being run on Oscar night and then hearing “…and the Oscar goes to…”

Braveheart cleaned up that year I think. They never stood a chance

That year Kevin Spacey won for playing Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects.

Ed Harris deserves Óscar for this, but Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt were brilliants on their roles too. And there is one winner Only....

Agree, his performance was gripping and convincing, leadership-example worthy - I got to know the actor Ed Harris in this role, and what an introduction that was!

Ed Harris crushes it in every film

Ed Harris does crush it.....But the guy that played John Aaron sucks!

When everything goes wrong....a, Grumman will get you home !

And due to this performance he was rightfully nominated at the 68th Academy Awards for best supporting actor.

Freddy Black they didn’t call it “Grumman Ironworks” for nothing!!

Yeah strong words.....and then Columbia happened.....I wonder if they even tried to think out a solution?

@@whiteeaglewarrior Challenger exploded 17 years or so before Columbia happened.

@@possiblepilotdeviation5791 Anno...watched it on TV happen at school....

@@possiblepilotdeviation5791 Challenger wasn't in space either. The first Americans actually lost in space were on Columbia.

flyboy152 Columbia wasn’t technically in space, either. The only people who died in space were three Russian guys. By the way, that quote was created for the film.

Also able to motivate other people, saying what they must do themselves and what's at stake.

Now it will be "how could you assume my gender" " I need safe space"

Some motherly force maybe wanting to help assist & consider basics & relational humanity & order or who why where what? I never wanted neither should they be in possession of privilege to play lively games for it’s not intend to for who u want relived where & why it’s unreasonable & diversified concourses does address unnecessary stupidity beyond your imaginary if then analysis & forgetting ur basics didn’t upgrade from day 1.

Kranz did an amazing job

@@sunilnagoji weird philosopher

we got turn everything off or they die up there that's the deal

Wow...just...

Also, technically speaking you can squeeze a significant amount of power from any device that's specced. So, maybe it says it's good for 12 volts. Well, that means some number between 11.5 and 12.4 volts. If it's good for 12.0 volts, then we have between 11.95 and 12.04 volts to consider. Those approximations multiply against each other, and those discrepancies are where inefficiencies enter the system. Technically speaking, you _could_ run the entire planet on 1 volt, if you timed the energy recuperation next to perfectly. (Ask any electrical engineer, and they'll tell you it's energy _storage_ that's going to kick of us into a new tier quasi-infinitely sustainable energy, not wind, not solar, not oil, not _nuclear,_ we got plenty of source, but it's all in leaky buckets.) Such is the nature of electrical engineering in its current form. So he wasn't just calling those engineers to show everyone who the boss was around here. He wanted the _actual_ figures, not the quantities printed on the labels, and the best way to do that is to get the actual people who had to do it by hand the first time through. Or, at least that's what I projected into his characterization of that role. That's how you turn a _"We can't,"_ into a _"Well, we could, but..."_ which in turn is just a single solution away from _"We did."_

Lady Mercy well said and explained. Thank you for teaching me something today.

Right on. Inspiring. I love your bit about the ACTUAL specs vs. the printed ones. People, in many walks of life, always live as if the "printed' ones ARE reality, when, they aren't. the ACTUAL ones are the ones that ACTUALLY matter. So many people in so many situations make decisions (and the wrong ones, I'll add,) by living by the supposed printed ones instead of the actual ones. You can do seemingly amazing things if you learn the actuals. and Hey, I made up a word, "actuals." muahaha.

@@ladymercy5275 Yep. That is the essence of a great leader and engineer. One who pushes beyond what a device was meant to do, and got to what it CAN do.

animalmother556x45 good eye and your comment is greatly appreciated

It's John Watts Young. Check out his outstanding career. He knew exactly, what has to be done...great acting - like everyone else in is this movie...

Most actors sat with their counterparts in prep. Not sure what John said but he went to get Ken Mattingly. In reality it was Charlie Duke who was woken up. He was sick with measles but was no longer contagious and thus came into help. It wasn't Ken. Another interesting tidbit was that Ken is bald in real life.

He did this because the first thing he knew to do was get Ken Mattingly in the simulator to start a reentry procedure... Without the simulated work from Ken to power up the CM for reentry, they would'nt have made it home

i love these details in movie. very well directed.

white privilege

@@xcoldbloom 😂 This is why I hate people. Always assuming racism.

Hi. I also had the pleasure of listening to Mr Kranz. He spoke for about 90 minutes in front of roughly 500 people and you could have heard a pin drop. Everybody was vapor locked. What a leader! There ain't many like him.

@@dougkelsey9906 If you ever get the chance, watch 'Stephen Fry, Shannon Luminary Lecture'. It's about robotics, A.I and exponential curves, presented by one of the greatest minds in the world.

@@dougkelsey9906 Unless you have already read it, I recommend Gene Kranz's book "Failure Is Not An Option". Kranz's story is totally unputdownable.

JOHN AARON THE

One of my "heroes".

Are you quoting Jim Lovell from the DVD commentary?

IronMan93 was he also the man who sent 1 man solo out to 5000 km in space and had that man return safely ? Seems like no Russian or American actually left Earth's orbit for any distance attempts since there are no space records for any Russian or American ever being out at 500 km or 2000 km Solo. Everything humans do have records for distances height , depth and some how humans went from low Earth orbit Directly to the Moon with no one going out there to start the distance records? Do you know how preposterous asking who was the first human to be at 1500 km away from Earth Solo and returned, but there is no answer!!!. To reach the Moon it would of taken many trips, many distance records broken, even lost crews with accidents. None of this ever happened there is no human that can say they were 500 km from Earth in a Solo flight and returned to Earth!. Also from 1973-2018 no Rover has ever landed on any of the Apollo 11-16 mission landings and took ground footage of any of the sites. This is very disturbing as billions of dollars of USA intellectual property was left there and Russia which landed dozens of probes there could of easily stolen anything as no video footage exists from 1973-2018 of any of the Apollo sites.

Apollo 12. "SCE to Aux." Some will know.

true he is very underrated

@Rick O'Shay no, nepotism *is* a bad thing. what this movie shows is that just because a situation *looks* like nepotism, doesn't mean it *is* nepotism.

@@Simonpt2000 No he's not. Everyone knows he delivers. I really despise this knee jerk response on RU-vid clips to offer "underrated" as a comment.

Have you seen "Alamo Bay" because that is the first thing I ever saw him in. I had no idea who he was but he blew me away. Talk about portraying someone who's conflicted about their principles. It's hard to find that movie online. I wish I could see it again.

@@charlieross-BRM I believe Simon was referring to the fact that Ed Harris isn't nearly as famous as some truly 'meh' actors despite his considerable talent. He's 'that guy' famous.

thats true but i also think because 12 amp vacuums were being advertised at the time of making this film as well LOL

A lot of these lines are to help the audience understand what these guys are talking about. In real life, they talked real different because they all understood the tech speak language of engineers. They had to. They all had the education and knowledge to know. We casual audience need examples like this to help.

Gentlemen that's not acceptable they are falling short and going to die seriously

ffs if you are going to quote an amazing movie get the damn quote right...

john tucker chill

I'm perfectly chilled, this movie is far to epic to be butchered :)

@@johntucker23 Apologies for butchering the quote.

"hell, we've never even simulated it." That's quitter talk

Sadly trump doesn't speak it!

@@ryan-yw9dy correct!

...and behave

... and listen

@@ryan-yw9dy Actually he does, and thats why he'll win again.

Noemi Yesfir Noemi Yesfir You know you’ve got a great line when the real person who never actually said it (if I’m not mistaken, when asked by the screenwriters if anyone panicked, one of the guys in this scene said “we calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them”) uses it as the title of his autobiography.

I’ve always wondered about that line is she saying that she compares these rockets to a washer machine or is she saying in the future if they happened to make a washing machine fly then he could pilot it?

I love that line. My other one is: “we just put Sir Isaac Newton in the driver’s seat.”

@@76tennboy She's comparing Rockets to a washing machine. Lovel's mother was probably born around the 10/20s and saw technology advance at an exponential rate. The reaction is comparable to that of 80/90 year olds to touch computers.

@@siraethelwulf8914 she was saying her son was a great pilot and if they could get something as unlikely as a washing machine to fly, her Jim would be able to land it.

He'd be one of those bosses that'd make you work 110% every day. And you'd be a better employee for it.

Rob Schmidt I was 18 and watching our staple for news Walter Cronkite great coverage

toll_booth My family would sit around the TV and listen to Walter Cronkite and other Mercury and earlier Apollo Astronauts discuss Space These were good times Bro .

@@tollboothjason yep and he's the kind of boss who works right with the guys...that's how respect is created..bosses who point fingers and talk are not respected

He expects the best, and gives his best. If you care about your mission, he'll care about you too.

Summed up the attitude of mission control perfectly.

Gene did say "Failure is not an option" he was interviewed on NBC Nightly News.

@@joegarcia6076 he said he wished he'd said it but he didn't. What he said was " when things go wrong we calmly lay out all the options, and failure isn't among them"

steve Fowler Awsome story. So much history.. I grew up in Cocoa as well in the late 90's through 2k's (I'm 24, born in 93) and everything about the shuttle, space, launches, PAFB and all of it's secrecy and security absolutely was the best part of my childhood. Specifically, I grew up on E. Leon Lane In between RonJon's and the Pier, one block from the sand. I will never forget the rush of excitement in the hours before launch.. prepping coolers and snacks, gathering chairs and blankets.. I of course was already on the beach with my bmx while I waited on the fam 😂 Then, all of a sudden.. the whole coast grows silent and tunes into into the most powerful, coolest sounding, pride instilling and awe inspiring pieces of engineering design ever created. I am now, and always will be, extremely envious of the early space program engineers and their ability to recognize, discuss, calculate, and confront a problem on the spot and turn that into a solution. And of course, the fullfillment and pride that must come from that job just make me want to cry cause I'll never experience something like that lol. It seriously defined who I am now. I was dead set on being an Air Force pilot, and one day going to space or working at PAFB, but things change, we moved.. and shortly after NASA was more or less shutdown and workers laid off, and it all became one the best memories I'll ever have. And of course, night launches were the coolest damn thing I had ever seen. Thanks to you and your father for you services in exploration and doing everything you could to keep those boys safe. We left around 2006-08 about the time everything went down hill at KSC/NASA. I'll never, ever be able to forget the images in my head of the VAB from the causeway everyday going inland with Mom to school as she was headed to work, or seeing something from the beach that looked like a baby carrot with a rocket up its butt hurtling toward space 😂 or even all the Awsome shit I got to see being so close to PAFB. Best time of my life, so glad I grew up in that "last of the honest, good kids with no social media/smartphones" and actually had a chance to experience the space program, and be inspired to do bigger things like they did. Truly greatful. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!! -Brandon.

G.E. is now but a shadow of its former self. Its share price has tanked. It's selling off parts of itself just to survive. How the mighty have fallen. Sad, just sad.

Gemini was a great program. No way we could have gotten to the moon without it.

My father was radio guidance as well with GE. He worked on the Mercury & Gemini program too. Small 🌎. I grew up in NY.

My mom made toggle switches for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

Ron Howard, who, by the way, had to convincingly direct actors in a reduced gravity aircraft, wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.

"Badass" isn't the defining factor with which to grade or judge acting ability. His characters may be "badass" but that's how they're written and he happens to be cast in such roles. Far from always though.

Love the line and delivery

Failure is not an option was written for the movie, he never actually said it.

@@peterdemkiw3280 Cool

Clarkson did made a film about emptying a car's fuel tank on purpose, and he just make it into a Apollo 13 theme about running out. "it's not like if you run out (of fuel), you'll skip off the earth's atmosphere and be lost in space, forever"

Sadly we did, during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. All lost, no survivors.

@Simulation algorithm The NASA of the 1960s - 1970s doesn't exist anymore. Not the drive, nor the technical know-how, nor the vision. What we have is a gelded NASA, far from the futuristic vision we saw in the "2001: A Space Odyssey" movie. It's 2022. Where are the orbital space colonies? The colony on the Moon? The manned missions around the Solar System all shown in the "2001" movie? All not achieved, and not likely to be achieved in the foreseeable future.

Written by the film's writers for the movie, Krantz never said it.

Millions of teachers around the world beg to differ with you.

@@omegacon4 The teachers I've seen had quite sloppy chalkboard freehand. One can draw a circle or straight/dashed lines reasonably well if using quick motions, but usually it still looks sloppy. If I know Ed, he probably "practiced" this for a while, as well. He's an actor, not a teacher. Also known for his temper.

now i am just imagining ed harris practicing at a chalk board for hours

Good for you, man! How's it going?

You mean specifically, to join the NASA?

so you can repair vacuum cleaners?

Have you figured out how to run a vacuum cleaner on less than 12 amps?

spoken like someone in their first year of college

Boy, you are lucky.

Really cool.

Miguel Antonio Ed Harris

"Failure is not an option!" - I have to put that quote on the wall at work :)

**hits the ’Revert to VAB’ button**

"Failure is not an option!"

Okay

It was during Apollo 1. Never lost an astronaut 'in space'. Lost several on the ground.

It's a shame Gene never actually said it though, it was written for the movie.

Exactly what I was thinking haha the sites a joke

I recommend you to watch the movie. It's awesome.

He never actually said it though, it was written for the movie. Great saying though, and he wished he'd said it.

And so did Cersei Lannister before that.

HaHa!

Unlimited power! (Darth Sidious)