Problem
Based on true story of the 1971 Apollo 13 mission to the moon.
With days before the mission, the flight surgeon reveals that one of the astronauts, Ken Mattingly has been exposed to measles and that he is serious risk of becoming sick during the mission. The decision is made to replace Ken, who is devastated after being given the news. On the day of the launch, Ken watches from a distance as the rocket successfully takes off. On the way to the moon however, an explosion occurs leaving the astronauts stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingly, flight director Gene Kranz and a heroic ground crew race against time - and the odds - to bring them home.
Sample Scene: Power is Everything
The scene opens during a meeting by engineers and their supervisor at Mission Control. They've determined that there is not enough power to bring the crew home. The crew needs to shut off almost everything and reduce the power usage down to 12 Amps. Ken Mattingly, who'd isolated himself at home and had missed all the news about the mission being crippled, is called in, and begins to do simulator work. Ken figures that if they can eliminate unneeded procedures from the checklist, he can most likely get the men back with the limited power they have. He begins to work long hours without any breaks to figure out a new re-entry procedure.
When you are ready, click "Power is Everything" to watch this clip. The video will open in its own window.
Task
Ken Mattingly's task is to:
Reduce power consumption
Develop new re-entry procedures that will use less power
Successfully transfer power from the LEM to the Command Module.
For questions 1 - 4 below, apply elements one to five from the Integrative Model of Motivation Theories (Exhibit. 5.7 in the textbook):
Explain Ken's motivation using expectancy theory and critique.
Explain Ken's motivation using goal setting theory and critique.
Apply the three aspects of motivation (effort, persistence, direction) to Ken Mattingly's task performance.
What Intervening factors influenced the relationship between Ken Mattingly's motivation and his task performance?
Apply various components of the Job Characteristics Model (Exhibit 6.5) to Ken Mattingly's job as the "Fourth Astronaut