ELi5: What is gimbal lock and why is it bad? (Been watching Apollo 13)
In: 1
On the spacecraft, they were using a gyroscope/gyrocompass to help navigate. Gyrocompasses are good for navigation and other things because they remain [rigid in space when spinning.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQb-N486mA4&ab_channel=EuropeanSpaceAgency%2CESA). So, if you get a gyroscope spinning, you use to keep track of your positioning since it stays in place. You tell what is relatively up and down if you align your gyro in that way. This is important as astronaut may need this info to properly line themselves up a course between points in space.
Gimbal lock is when you apply a force to a gyro that causes the rotating axies of the gyro (also known as the gimbals) to line up and “lock up” with eachother. When this happens the gyro no longer maintains its rigidity and becomes useless. [In this video, you can see that the gyro does like a full flip when the rings ling up.](https://youtu.be/oj7v3MXJL3M?t=106). Imagine trying to navigate, and your instrument literarily flips upside down.
In Apollo 13, the spacecraft was shimmying violently in all direction after the explosion. This movement applied force on the gyro. If enough force was applied, the rings of the gyro would align, they would lock up, and gimbal lock occurs. This ruin the gyro’s ability to give the astronauts directional data. With gimbal lock, they wouldn’t be able to determine what is up, down, sideways, etc.
[This video explains it a bit more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmCzZ-D8Wdk&ab_channel=TheVintageSpace)
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