American flight director for NASA (born 1933)
Eugene Francis Kranz
(born August 17, 1933) is an American
aerospace engineer
who served as
NASA
's second
Chief Flight Director
, directing missions of the
Mercury
,
Gemini
, and
Apollo
programs, including the first lunar landing mission,
Apollo 11
. He directed the successful efforts by the Mission Control team to save the crew of
Apollo 13
, and was portrayed in the
1995 film
of the same name by actor
Ed Harris
. He characteristically wore a close-cut
flattop
hairstyle and the dapper "mission" vests (
waistcoats
) of different styles and materials made by his wife, Marta Kranz, for his Flight Director missions.
He coined the phrase "tough and competent", which became known as the "Kranz Dictum". Kranz has been the subject of movies, documentary films, and books and periodical articles. Kranz is a recipient of a
Presidential Medal of Freedom
.
[1]
In a 2010
Space Foundation
survey, Kranz was ranked as the #2 most popular space hero.
[2]
Early years
[
edit
]
Kranz was born August 17, 1933, in
Toledo, Ohio
, and attended
Central Catholic High School
. He grew up on a farm that overlooked the
Willys-Overland
Jeep
production plant. His father, Leo Peter Kranz, was the son of
German
immigrants
, and served as an
Army
medic
during
World War I
.
[3]
His father died in 1940, when Eugene was only seven years old. Kranz has two older sisters, Louise and Helen.
Kranz was interested in space at a young age; in high school he wrote a thesis on the topic of a
single-stage (SSTO)
rocket to the Moon.
[4]
The thesis was titled
The Design and Possibilities of the Interplanetary Rocket
. Following his high school graduation in 1951, Kranz went to college. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Science
degree in
Aeronautical Engineering
from
Saint Louis University
's
Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology
in 1954. He received his commission as a
second lieutenant
in the
U.S. Air Force Reserve
, completing
pilot
training at
Lackland Air Force Base
in
Texas
in 1955. Shortly after receiving his
wings
, Kranz married Marta Cadena, a daughter of
Mexican
immigrants who fled from
Mexico
during the
Mexican Revolution
. Kranz was sent to
South Korea
to fly the
F-86 Sabre
aircraft for patrol operations around the
Korean DMZ
.
[5]
After finishing his
tour
in Korea, Kranz left the Air Force and went to work for
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
, where he assisted with the research and testing of new
Surface-to-Air (SAM)
and Air-to-Ground missiles for the U.S. Air Force at its Research Center at
Holloman Air Force Base
. He was discharged from the Air Force Reserve as a Captain in 1972.
[6]
NASA career
[
edit
]
After completing the research tests at Holloman Air Force Base, Kranz left McDonnell Aircraft and joined the NASA Space Task Group, then at its
Langley Research Center
in
Virginia
. Upon joining NASA, he was assigned, by flight director
Christopher C. Kraft
, as a
Mission Control
procedures officer for the uncrewed
Mercury-Redstone 1
(MR-1) test (dubbed in Kranz's autobiography as the "Four-Inch Flight", due to its failure to launch).
As Procedures Officer, Kranz was put in charge of integrating Mercury Control with the Launch Control Team at
Cape Canaveral, Florida
, writing the "
Go/NoGo
" procedures that allowed missions to continue as planned or be aborted, along with serving as a sort of switchboard operator between the control center at Cape Canaveral and the agency's fourteen tracking stations and two tracking ships (via
Teletype
) located across the globe. Kranz performed this role for all crewed and uncrewed Mercury flights, including the
MR-3
and
MA-6
flights, which put the first Americans into space and orbit respectively.
After MA-6, he was promoted to Assistant Flight Director for the
MA-7
flight of
Scott Carpenter
in May 1962. MA-7 was his first mission as assistant flight director (AFD); he was under Kraft (the flight director of MA-7).
[7]
Kranz and Kraft were not the sole reason that MA-7 was saved, as that would be attributed to the whole efforts of Mission Control, but they played a major role.
[7]
Kranz continued in this role for the remaining two Mercury flights and the first three Gemini flights. With the upcoming Gemini flights, he was promoted to the Flight Director level and served his first shift, the so-called "operations shift," for the
Gemini 4
mission in 1965, the first U.S.
EVA
and four-day flight. After Gemini, he served as a Flight Director on odd-numbered Apollo missions, including Apollos 5, 7 and 9, including the first (and only) successful uncrewed test of the Lunar Module (Apollo 5). He was serving as Flight Director for
Apollo 11
when the
Lunar Module
Eagle
landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Kranz was chosen to be one of the first flight directors to fly crewed Apollo missions.
[4]
Kranz worked with the contractor, McDonnell-Douglas on the Mercury and Gemini project, but for Apollo there was a new contractor,
Rockwell
.
[4]
Kranz describes Rockwell as new and unfamiliar with the space industry, as they were known for their aeronautical significance at the time.
[4]
Kranz was assigned as a division chief for Apollo; his tasks included mission preparation, mission design, the writing of the procedures, and the development of the handbooks.
[4]
Kranz explains that the Apollo program was different from other programs in that time was a major factor.
[4]
Other missions were allotted ample amount of time: Apollo was not given this luxury.
[4]
The book by NASA,
What Made Apollo a Success?
, has a section about flight control written by Kranz and
James Otis Covington
. It gives more detail of the Flight Control Division of the Apollo program.
[8]
Kranz explains that the Mission Control logo is an interesting one; he associates it with commitment, teamwork, discipline, morale, tough, competent, risk, and sacrifice.
[4]
Apollo 13
[
edit
]
Kranz is perhaps best known for his role as lead flight director (nicknamed "White Flight") during NASA's
Apollo 13
crewed Moon landing mission.
[9]
[10]
Kranz's team was on duty when part of the Apollo 13
Service Module
exploded and they dealt with the initial hours of the unfolding accident.
[11]
His
"White Team"
, dubbed the "Tiger Team" by the press, set the constraints for the consumption of spacecraft consumables (oxygen, electricity, and water) and controlled the three course-correction burns during the trans-Earth trajectory, as well as the power-up procedures that allowed the astronauts to land safely back on Earth in the command module. He and his team were recommended by NASA Administrator
Thomas O. Paine
in communications with
Richard Nixon
to receive the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
for their roles.
[1]
Later career
[
edit
]
Kranz continued as a Flight Director through
Apollo 17
, when he worked his last shift as a flight director overseeing the mission liftoff, and then was promoted to Deputy Director of NASA Mission Operations in 1974, becoming Director in 1983. He was in Mission Control during the January 28, 1986,
loss of Space Shuttle
Challenger
on the
STS-51-L
launch.
[12]
He retired from NASA in 1994 after the successful
STS-61
flight that repaired the optically flawed
Hubble Space Telescope
in 1993.
After retirement
[
edit
]
In 2000, Kranz published his autobiography titled
Failure Is Not An Option
(
ISBN
978-1-4391-4881-5
), borrowing from the line used in the 1995
Apollo 13
film by actor Ed Harris.
[13]
The History Channel later used it to adapt a documentary about Mission Control in 2004.
[6]
Starting in 2017, Kranz helped kickstart and direct the restoration of the Mission Control Room in the Johnson Space Center to the appearance and function of its 1969 use during the Apollo 11 mission.
[14]
The five million dollar project was intended to be completed for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, and for his efforts Kranz was recognized by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and October 23, 2018, was declared "Gene Kranz Day".
[15]
During the 2018 To the Moon and Beyond luncheon hosted by Space Center Houston, The Gene Kranz Scholarship was started, geared towards funding young students to take part in activities and training for careers in STEM.
[16]
Ohio State Legislature introduced House Bill 358 to designate August 17 "Gene Kranz Day" in fall of 2019.
[17]
As of June 2020 the bill has passed the state house and awaits the state senate.
[18]
Post-retirement Kranz became a flight engineer on a restored Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, flying at air shows throughout the United States for six years.
[19]
Kranz continues to give motivational speeches and talks about his experiences with the space programs.
[20]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Kranz, a
Catholic
, has six children with his wife, Marta: Carmen (born 1958), Lucy (1959), Joan Frances (1961), Mark (1963), Brigid (1964), and Jean Marie (1966). In a
NASA
article,
Lessons from My Father
, Kranz’s youngest daughter Jeannie mentioned that her dad was a very “engaged” father and likened him to the character
Ward Cleaver
in the television show
Leave it to Beaver
.
[21]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
Kranz has appeared as a character in several dramatizations of the Apollo program. The first portrayal was in the 1974 TV movie
Houston, We've Got a Problem
, where he is played by
Ed Nelson
. He is played by
Ed Harris
in the 1995 film
Apollo 13
, who received an
Oscar
nomination for
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
.
Matt Frewer
portrays him in the 1996 TV movie
Apollo 11
. He is portrayed by
Dan Butler
in the 1998
HBO
miniseries
From the Earth to the Moon
. In a 2016 episode of the
NBC
series
Timeless
titled "Space Race", he is portrayed by
John Brotherton
. In the 2019
Apple TV+
series
For All Mankind
he is played by
Eric Ladin
and given the
alternate history
context of the series, his character is depicted with elements that are partially fictional.
[22]
In the videogame
Kerbal Space Program
, the character for Mission Control is named "Gene Kerman", referencing Kranz and wearing a vest reminiscent of his signature apparel.
Kranz has also been featured in several documentaries using NASA film archives, including the 2004
History Channel
production
Failure Is Not an Option
and its 2005 follow-up
Beyond the Moon: Failure Is Not an Option 2
, recurring History Channel broadcasts based on the 1979 book
The Right Stuff
, the 2008
Discovery Channel
production
When We Left Earth
, and the 2017 David Fairhead documentary "Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo".
[23]
Archive audio clips including Kranz's name and voice are included in the track "Go!" on the 2015
Public Service Broadcasting
album
The Race for Space
, a track inspired by the
Apollo 11
Moon landing.
The Eugene Kranz Junior High
School
, located in
Dickinson, Texas
, is named after him.
[24]
In 2020,
Toledo Express Airport
was renamed officially to the Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport.
[25]
"Failure is not an option"
[
edit
]
Kranz has become associated with the phrase "
failure is not an option
." It was uttered by actor Ed Harris, playing Kranz, in the 1995 film
Apollo 13
. Kranz then used it as the title of his 2000 autobiography. Later it became the title of a
2004 television documentary
about NASA, as well as of that documentary's sequel,
Beyond the Moon: Failure Is Not an Option 2.
Kranz travels all over the world giving a motivational lecture titled "Failure Is Not an Option," including the historic
Apollo 13 flight control room
.
[26]
"Failure is not an option" was in fact coined by
Bill Broyles
, one of the screenwriters of
Apollo 13
, based on a similar statement made not by Kranz, but another member of the Apollo 13 mission control crew,
FDO Flight Controller
Jerry Bostick
. According to Bostick:
[27]
As far as the expression 'Failure is not an option,' you are correct that Kranz never used that term. In preparation for the movie, the script writers, Al Reinart and Bill Broyles, came down to Clear Lake to interview me on "What are the people in Mission Control really like?" One of their questions was "Weren't there times when everybody, or at least a few people, just panicked?" My answer was "No, when bad things happened, we just calmly laid out all the options, and failure was not one of them. We never panicked, and we never gave up on finding a solution." I immediately sensed that Bill Broyles wanted to leave and assumed that he was bored with the interview. Only months later did I learn that when they got in their car to leave, he started screaming, "That's it! That's the tag line for the whole movie, Failure is not an option. Now we just have to figure out who to have say it." Of course, they gave it to the Kranz character, and the rest is history.
Teams, "the human factor" and "the right stuff"
[
edit
]
Each Flight Director took a different color as a designator; the first three Flight Directors chose red, white, and blue, and each was identified as "_____ Flight" (a tradition that continues to this day). Thus, Kranz was White Flight and was the leader of the "White Team", one of the flight control teams whose shift at Mission Control contributed to saving the
Apollo 13
astronauts. Though Apollo 13 did not achieve its main objective, to Kranz its astronauts' rescue is an example of the "human factor" born out of the 1960s
space race
. According to Kranz, this factor is what is largely responsible for helping put the United States on the Moon in only a decade. The blend of young intelligent minds working day in and day out by sheer willpower yielded "the right stuff."
Kranz had this to say about the "human factor":
They were people who were energized by a mission. And these teams were capable of moving right on and doing anything America asked them to do in space.
According to him, a few organized examples of this factor included
Grumman
, who developed the
Apollo Lunar Module
,
North American Aviation
, and the
Lockheed Corporation
. After the excitement of the 1960s, these companies dissolved in corporate mergers, such as happened when Lockheed became
Lockheed Martin
. Another example of the "human factor" was the ingenuity and hard work by teams that developed the emergency plans and sequences as new problems arose during the
Apollo 13
mission.
"The Kranz Dictum"
[
edit
]
Kranz called a meeting of his branch and flight control team on the Monday morning following the
Apollo 1
disaster that killed
Gus Grissom
,
Ed White
, and
Roger Chaffee
. Kranz made the following address to the gathering (The Kranz Dictum), in which his expression of values and admonishments for future spaceflight are his legacy to NASA:
Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work. Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, "Dammit, stop!" I don't know what Thompson's committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did.
From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: "Tough" and "Competent".
Tough
means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for.
Competent
means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write "Tough and Competent" on your blackboards. It will
never
be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.
After the
Space Shuttle
Columbia
accident
in 2003, NASA Administrator
Sean O'Keefe
quoted this speech in a discussion about what changes should be made in response to the disaster. Referring to the words "tough and competent," he said, "These words are the price of admission to the ranks of NASA and we should adopt it that way."
Views on the space program after the Moon landing
[
edit
]
Kranz said that much of the "human factor" dried up after the Moon landings, particularly because the United States viewed the Moon landings as a short-term goal to beat the Soviet Union ? and not much more. When asked in spring 2000 if NASA is still the same place today as it was in the years of the
space race
, he replied:
No. In many ways we have the young people, we have the talent, we have the imagination, we have the technology. But I don't believe we have the leadership and the willingness to accept risk, to achieve great goals. I believe we need a long-term national commitment to explore the universe. And I believe this is an essential investment in the future of our nation ? and our beautiful, but environmentally challenged planet.
In his book
Failure Is Not an Option,
he also expressed disappointment that support for space exploration dried up after the Apollo program. Writing about his vision for renewing the space program he said:
Revitalize NASA
. Lacking a clear goal the team that placed an American on the Moon, NASA, has become just another federal bureaucracy beset by competing agendas and unable to establish discipline within its structure. Although NASA has an amazing array of technology and the most talented workforce in history, it lacks top-level vision. It began its retreat from the inherent risks of space exploration after the
Challenger
accident
. During the last decade its retreat has turned into a rout. The NASA Administrator is appointed by the President and to a great degree represents the current President's views on space. If space is put on the national agenda for the coming national election [2000], a newly elected President will have the opportunity to select new top-level NASA leadership that is committed and willing to take the steps to rebuild the space agency and get America's space program moving again.
Honors
[
edit
]
- Toledo Express Airport named after him
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Lawrence Sperry Award, 1967
- Saint Louis University: Alumni Merit Award, 1968; Founders Award, 1993; Honorary Doctor of Science, 2015
- NASA Exceptional Service Medal
, 1969 and 1970
- Presidential Medal of Freedom
, 1970
- Downtown Jaycees of Washington D.C. Arthur S. Fleming Award ? one of ten outstanding young men in government service in 1970
- NASA Distinguished Service Medal
, 1970, 1982, and 1988
- NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
, 1973 and 1993
- NASA SES Meritorious Executive
, 1980, 1985 and 1992
- American Astronautical Society: AAS Fellow, 1982; Spaceflight Award, 1987
- Robert R. Gilruth Award, 1988, North Galveston County Jaycees
- The National Space Club; Astronautics Engineer of the Year Award, 1992
- Theodore Von Karman Lectureship, 1994
- Recipient of the 1995 History of Aviation Award for the "Safe return of the Apollo 13 Crew," Hawthorne, California
- Honorary Doctor of Engineering Degree from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, 1996
- Louis Bauer Lecturer, Aerospace Medical Association, 2000
- Selected for "2004 and 2006 Gathering of Eagles" honoring Aerospace and Aviation Pioneers at the Air Force Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
- John Glenn Lecture, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, 2005
- Lloyd Nolen, Lifetime Achievement in Aviation Award, 2005
- Wright Brothers Lecture ? Wright Patterson AFB, 2006
- NASA Ambassador of Exploration, 2006
- Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's National Space Trophy, 2007
- Air Force ROTC Distinguished Alumni Award, 2014
- National Aviation Hall of Fame
, 2015
[28]
- Honorary Doctorate of Science from Saint Louis University, 2015
- Great American Award, The
All-American Boys Chorus
, 2015
- Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Medal of Honor, 2017
- Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Flight Jacket Night Lecture, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum ? National Air and Space Society, November 8, 2018
- Awarded the 2021 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team in Houston. | The American Presidency Project"
.
www.presidency.ucsb.edu
.
- ^
"Space Foundation Survey Reveals Broad Range of Space Heroes"
. Archived from
the original
on July 23, 2012.
- ^
Dansby, Andrew (August 6, 2023).
"NASA legend Gene Kranz reflects on career in new book, two days out from 90th birthday"
.
Houston Chronicle
. Retrieved
January 25,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Glen E. Swanson, ed. (2012).
Before this decade is out: personal reflections on the Apollo Program
(Dover ed.). Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
ISBN
978-0-486-27037-1
.
OCLC
841494530
.
- ^
Gene Kranz (2009).
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
. Simon & Schuster.
ISBN
978-1-4391-4881-5
.
- ^
a
b
"Gene Kranz - A Blast from The Past"
(PDF)
.
NASA
. NASA. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on March 26, 2023
. Retrieved
July 19,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Nasr, Maya
(January 5, 2020),
"Evolution of the Flight Crew and Mission Control Relationship"
,
AIAA Scitech 2020 Forum
, AIAA SciTech Forum, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,
doi
:
10.2514/6.2020-1361
,
ISBN
978-1-62410-595-1
,
S2CID
213498752
, retrieved
April 29,
2021
- ^
What Made Apollo a Success?
. Washington, D.C:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
. 2014.
ISBN
978-1-4954-4447-0
.
- ^
Hotz, Robert (July 3, 1994).
"COLUMN ONE : Apollo's Unseen Titan"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
December 7,
2018
.
- ^
Kranz, Gene (June 23, 2009).
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
. Simon and Schuster. p. 380.
ISBN
978-1-4391-4881-5
.
Be it resolved that on behalf of the personnel of the Flight Control Division, the color
White
be retired from the list of active flight control teams to forever stand in tribute to
White Flight,
Eugene F. Kranz
- ^
Edwards, Owen.
"Gene Kranz's Apollo Vest"
.
Smithsonian
. Retrieved
March 1,
2016
.
- ^
"Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion - Mission Control"
– via www.youtube.com.
- ^
"Kranz, Eugene"
. Archived from
the original
on May 7, 2021
. Retrieved
May 7,
2021
.
- ^
"On a mission: Restoration to return NASA Mission Control room to Apollo glory"
.
- ^
"
'Gene Kranz Day' honors flight director, funds Mission Control revival"
.
- ^
"Restore Apollo Mission Control Center"
.
- ^
"August 17 could become 'Gene Kranz' Day"
.
- ^
"House Bill 358"
.
- ^
"SPEAKER BIO-GENE KRANZ"
.
- ^
"Kranz, Eugene F."
- ^
Kranz, Jeannie.
"Lessons from My Father"
.
NASA
. Archived from
the original
on June 24, 2020
. Retrieved
May 15,
2022
.
- ^
"
'For All Mankind' to launch alternate space race on Apple TV+"
.
collectSPACE
. October 28, 2019
. Retrieved
November 18,
2019
.
- ^
"Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo"
.
www.imdb.com/title/tt5959952
.
- ^
"Dickinson Independent School District"
.
schools.dickinsonisd.org
.
- ^
"Dedication and Renaming Ceremony of Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express…"
.
- ^
Video
on
YouTube
- ^
"Members of Apollo 13 Team Reflect on 'NASA's Finest Hour"
. NASA. April 17, 2015. Archived from
the original
on April 17, 2023
. Retrieved
April 8,
2023
.
- ^
"National Aviation Hall of Fame reveals names of four to be enshrined in "Class of 2015"
"
. Dayton, Ohio: National Aviation Hall of Fame. December 16, 2014
. Retrieved
January 10,
2015
.
Sources
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Gene Kranz
.