Aquarius carried 338 pounds of water in its tanks. During the first hours after the crew moved in, the LEM was consuming water at the rate of 6.3 pounds per hour. Arithmetic immediately revealed that, at that rate of consumption, Aquarius would have no water at all after fifty-four more hours—twenty-three fewer hours than the fastest possible return to earth. The astronauts would survive without water for the extra twenty-three hours, but the equipment wouldn’t.
