In the book on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission there is a chapter that contains an overview of the consumables on board the spacecraft, and whether or not they might pose a problem to the survival of the astronauts. Because the CDR and LMP were scheduled to perform two EVAs on the lunar surface, they had ample oxygen (the atmosphere of the LEM would be vented and completely replaced twice for these EVAs) but the LEM could not support the three men because the CO2-scrubbers were insufficient.
With them having sufficient oxygen I was wondering if the crew might have survived if they had all donned their space suits (or at least the CDR and LMP, taxing the scrubbers less). My reasoning is:
- The suits can be used inside the spacecraft using umbilical connections that draw on the LEM's ample oxygen supplies
- For suits worn only inside the craft cooling water (another thing they did not have in excess) is not needed as the flow of oxygen provides cooling
- If they used the PLSS backpack the CDR and LMP could even stretch the LEMs resources another 14 hours
The only way I can think of that would invalidate this approach was if the suits umbilical connectors also relied on the scrubbers on the LEM to function, but I can't find anything to confirm or deny this.