{"id":74017,"date":"2021-06-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-471777"},"modified":"2023-07-26T16:08:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T20:08:52","slug":"arturo-campos-a-key-player-in-bringing-apollo-13-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/arturo-campos-a-key-player-in-bringing-apollo-13-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Arturo Campos: A Key Player in Bringing Apollo 13 Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"689\" height=\"711\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?w=689\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Arturo Campos sits in a chair, looking at a piece of paper in his hand.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg 689w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=291,300 291w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=388,400 388w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=581,600 581w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 689px) 100vw, 689px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Arturo Campos, electrical power subsystem manager for the Apollo 13 lunar module.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">Courtesy of the Campos Family<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em><b>Leerlo en espa\u00f1ol <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/arturo-campos-figura-clave-en-el-regreso-del-apolo-13\/\" rel=\"noopener\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the year Campos died. He passed away in 2001 at age 66.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Arturo Campos was asleep in his home when he got the call from his colleagues at NASA\u2019s Manned Spacecraft Center (now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/location\/johnson-space-center\/\" data-type=\"location\" data-id=\"155473\">Johnson Space Center<\/a>) on April 13, 1970. Something had gone wrong with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/apollo-13\/\" data-type=\"mission\" data-id=\"213980\">Apollo 13 mission<\/a>, and he needed to report to work immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon arrival, Campos learned that a service module oxygen tank aboard the Apollo spacecraft had ruptured. The command module\u2019s normal supply of electricity, light, and water was lost, leaving astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise stuck in a crippled spacecraft about 200,000 miles (about 320,000 km) from Earth. The mission\u2019s initial goal of a Moon landing had been abandoned; now, the top priority was making sure the astronauts survived the return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team had created a contingency plan ahead of time to deal with just such a scenario. Although the plan had never been tested, it was designed to divert power from the lunar module to the command and service module equipment system, giving the astronauts enough power to return home safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The procedure would need to be modified in real-time, and reworking it required incredible technical expertise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fortunately, Campos was exactly the man to help the astronauts execute this plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was the one who wrote it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Joining NASA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos was born in Laredo, Texas in 1934, hailing from a Mexican-American family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then, it was not common for students from Hispanic backgrounds to earn college degrees in engineering. And Campos\u2019 sights were not initially set on college \u2014 instead, he had been considering a career as an auto mechanic, like his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Campos\u2019 high school chemistry and physics teacher, Josephine \u2018Grandma\u2019 Baird, recognized his potential. Together, they encouraged Campos to both attend classes and work at his dad\u2019s mechanic shop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos\u2019 efforts eventually paid off. He matriculated through Laredo Junior College and went on to graduate from the University of Texas with a degree in electrical engineering in 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had been working as a civilian employee supervising aircraft maintenance at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas before joining NASA in the early 1960s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen NASA came up, and I heard they were going to work in space, I knew it was going to be a big challenge,\u201d Campos said in an earlier interview. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I would do, but I wanted to be part of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"nasa-gb-align-center padding-y-3 maxw-full width-full display-flex flex-align-center hds-module wp-block-nasa-blocks-blockquote\"><div class=\"grid-container grid-container-block display-flex flex-column flex-justify-center padding-0\">\n\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-12 desktop:display-flex mobile:display-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"blockquote-icon margin-bottom-3\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"tablet:square-4 square-4 margin-right-3\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 3000 3000\" style=\"enable-background:new 0 0 3000 3000;\" xml:space=\"preserve\"> <g> <path d=\"M586.7,1429.7c-10.7,1.5-21.4,2.8-33.9,4.5c6.9-26.6,12.7-50.7,19.5-74.6c32.4-114.1,78.5-222.2,146.8-319.5 c90.2-128.5,202.5-235.3,327.7-329.1c8.4-6.3,16.7-12.6,25.3-19.1c-66.3-105.1-131.5-208.6-197.3-313.1c-3.5,1.2-5.5,1.6-7.2,2.6 C714.4,469,576.1,575.7,456,705.3c-126,135.9-226.2,289.1-303,457.8c-98.8,217.1-151.3,444-147.2,683.3 c1.7,100.5,12.9,199.6,41.1,296.3C93.7,2303,182.2,2433,326.7,2520.1c176.9,106.7,366.8,126.8,563.4,70.5 c150.9-43.2,260.9-138.9,327.2-282.5c33.4-72.5,47.8-149.4,52-228.7c6.5-122.8-14.1-239.5-74.3-348.1 C1074.6,1514.5,832.7,1394.2,586.7,1429.7z\"><\/path><path d=\"M2912.5,1722c-129.9-210.9-320.2-309.4-567.9-296c-22.1,1.2-44,5.1-67.4,7.9c2.2-9.6,4-17.9,6.1-26.2 c37.9-153.6,99.3-296,198.8-420.5c77.8-97.4,167.1-182.9,265.8-258.8c15.6-12,31.3-23.9,47.9-36.5 c-66.2-105.1-131.9-209.2-197.2-312.8c-3.5,1.1-5.1,1.2-6.4,2c-167.2,95.6-316.1,213.7-443.2,358.8 c-105.1,119.9-191.1,252.3-259.5,396.3c-95.5,201-152.1,411.6-159.1,634.8c-3.9,125.5,4.8,249.7,40.1,371 c46.7,160.8,135.7,290.9,280.5,378.7c165.7,100.5,344.8,123,531.2,78.8c172.4-40.8,296.4-143.9,366.3-308.5 c28.5-67.2,40.6-138,44.6-210.5C3000.2,1953.3,2979.9,1831.4,2912.5,1722z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"blockquote-content\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"margin-bottom-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"font-weight-extralight line-height-sm margin-top-0 section-heading-sm\"><span class=\"section-heading-sm\">\u201cWhen NASA came up, and I heard they were going to work in space, I knew it was going to be a big challenge. I didn\u2019t know what I would do, but I wanted to be part of the team.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"display-flex\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"blockquote-image hds-cover-wrapper margin-right-3\"><figure class=\"hds-media-background  \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Arturo Campos\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/campos.jpg?resize=200,200 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"grid-col-11\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"blockquote-credit-name line-height-sm margin-0\">Arturo Campos<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"blockquote-credit-title line-height-sm padding-0 margin-0\">Electrical Engineer<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Campos leveraged his electrical engineering expertise in dozens of projects at NASA. He began in research and development of electrical systems for spacecraft, and became one of the go-to figures responsible for the electrical system used in Apollo lunar modules \u2014 including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/apollo-11\/\" data-type=\"mission\" data-id=\"205939\">first Moon landing in 1969<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Apollo 13 Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As dozens of NASA\u2019s mission control members scrambled to deal with the unfolding crisis, Campos headed into the Mission Evaluation Room and immediately got to work reconstructing his plan to provide the command module with enough electrical power to navigate home safely. As the electrical power subsystem manager for the lunar module, Campos was tasked with the development, design, and testing of the hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen they called me up, I rewrote the plan on the spot,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cI had written procedures for that eventuality a year before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The strategy that Campos and his colleagues in the Mission Evaluation Room devised was a success. Directions for implementing the procedure were provided to members of the control room, who relayed it to the astronauts on board. The entire process took about 15 hours, and in the end, enough power was diverted from lunar module power sources into the emergency batteries of the command and service module to provide heat to the astronauts, assist them in their journey home, and enable them to land safely on Earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If it hadn\u2019t been for the procedure Campos and his colleagues put together, it is likely the Apollo 13 mission would not be remembered as the \u201csuccessful failure\u201d that it is today. Campos and other members of mission control were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon in 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1803\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?w=1803\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Autographed pictures of Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, addressed to Arturo Campos\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg 1803w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=300,180 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=768,460 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=1024,613 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=1536,920 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=400,240 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=600,359 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=900,539 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/haise_lovell_campos.jpg?resize=1200,719 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1803px) 100vw, 1803px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Autographed pictures of Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell and Fred Haise, addressed to Arturo Campos.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">Courtesy of the Campos Family<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Later Years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the few Mexican-American employees at Johnson when most of the employees were white, Campos is remembered as being proud of his Hispanic heritage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He pitched in on efforts to help recruit more Hispanic workers to the space program and encouraged those in his culture to pursue technical fields. Campos also established and served as the first President of the League of United Latin American Citizens Council 660, a chapter composed of Mexican-American engineers at NASA that awarded scholarships to Hispanic students to pursue higher education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, Campos also served as Johnson Space Center\u2019s Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Program representative and as a member of the employees\u2019 Hispanic Heritage Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos retired from NASA in 1980, and continued consulting in electrical engineering consultant work for several Houston firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos passed away in 2001 at age 66 of a heart attack. He will be remembered as not only a key player instrumental to Apollo 13\u2019s safe return, but as a champion for equality in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>By Michael Bock<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2018Campos\u2019 is one of the names in the running for the Name the Artemis Moonikin Challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leerlo en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed. Editor\u2019s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed the year Campos died. He passed away in 2001 at age 66. Arturo Campos was asleep in his home when he got the call from his colleagues at NASA\u2019s Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) on April 13, 1970. Something had [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":75281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2671,2929,2668],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Arturo Campos: A Key Player in Bringing Apollo 13 Home","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/arturo-campos-a-key-player-in-bringing-apollo-13-home\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/arturo-campos-a-key-player-in-bringing-apollo-13-home\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/12045698_10204938177433913_5215400186510672927_o.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/12045698_10204938177433913_5215400186510672927_o.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA History","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Bock"}],"creator":["Michael Bock"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["People of NASA","NASA History","Apollo 13"],"dateCreated":"2021-06-15T18:00:00Z","datePublished":"2021-06-15T18:00:00Z","dateModified":"2023-07-26T20:08:52Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Arturo Campos: A Key Player in Bringing Apollo 13 Home\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/arturo-campos-a-key-player-in-bringing-apollo-13-home\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/12045698_10204938177433913_5215400186510672927_o.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2021-06-15T18:00:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"People of NASA,NASA History,Apollo 13\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Michael Bock\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":5,"time_ago":"3 years","featured_image":{"id":75281,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/12045698_10204938177433913_5215400186510672927_o.jpg","title":"12045698_10204938177433913_5215400186510672927_o","alt":"Arturo Campos","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74017"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444913,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74017\/revisions\/444913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74017"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=74017"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=74017"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=74017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}