In 1970, NASA’s third trip to the moon ran into a serious problem. One of the cryotanks ruptured on Apollo 13, forcing it to abandon the mission and frantically find a way to survive as it returned home. The combination of superior astronaut training and brilliant support on the ground saved the day, but one part of the mission often only gets mentioned in passing.

While trying to remedy Apollo 13’s problems, engineers on Earth were able to access exact physical replicas of the spacecraft and its parts. By doing so, they could devise good workarounds, passing detailed instructions to the astronauts sitting in very cramped and precarious quarters. To many, this story is the start of the digital twin...