Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, BS 1954
Occupation(s)
Flight director during Gemini and Apollo programs; Director of NASA Mission Operations
Years active
1960–1994
Employer
NASA (Retired)
Known for
Lead flight director during Apollo 13
Flight Director during first lunar landing (Apollo 11)
Predecessor
Chris Kraft (first Lead Flight Director)
Spouse
Marta Cadena
Children
6
Parent
Leo Peter Kranz (father)
Awards
Presidential Medal of Freedom
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
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]
^"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.
Eugene Francis Kranz (born August 17, 1933) is an American aerospace engineer who served as NASA's second Chief Flight Director, directing missions of...
phrase associated with NASA Flight Director GeneKranz and the Apollo 13 Moon landing mission. Although Kranz is often attributed with having spoken those...
the hole test" used this procedure to simulate a lunar landing abort. GeneKranz describes the test in his autobiography: The fire-in-the-hole test involved...
Wernher von Braun, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine, NASA flight director GeneKranz, U.S. senator Ted Kennedy, and U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan...
Earth safely, led by NASA Flight and Mission Operations Director GeneKranz. Kranz and the members of his "White Team", later designated the "Tiger Team"...
detected the craft was not going as fast as planned. Flight Director GeneKranz and his team at Mission Control in Houston quickly decided on an alternate...
Supporting Actor for his performance as NASA Apollo Mission Control Director GeneKranz in Apollo 13. In 1996, Harris starred in and was executive producer for...
be ignored if it was intermittent. Bales called "Go!", Flight Director GeneKranz accepted the call and the mission continued to success. Without the support...
prime crew because of treatment for bone spurs. The flight directors were GeneKranz, first shift, Gerry Griffin, second shift and Pete Frank, third shift...
winning series, Boardwalk Empire. In 2019 and 2020 Ladin appeared as GeneKranz on the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind and Chris Kraft on the Disney+...
Kyle Bodine John Bailey 1995 Nixon E. Howard Hunt Oliver Stone Apollo 13 GeneKranz Ron Howard Just Cause Blair Sullivan Arne Glimcher 1996 Eye for an Eye...
Control to assist in the rescue and recovery effort. Flight Director GeneKranz put Aaron in charge of the power supply budget. He was allowed to veto...
admission to the ranks of Mission Control. GeneKranz, speech given to Mission Control after the accident.: 204 GeneKranz called a meeting of his staff in Mission...
spaceflight missions. The painting also features GeneKranz, a NASA flight director from Toledo, Ohio. GeneKranz represents all the people involved in making...
William Pogue or Joseph Kerwin. For Apollo 13, flight directors were GeneKranz, White team (the lead flight director); Glynn Lunney, Black team; Milton...
his 1974 autobiography Carrying the Fire. Former NASA Flight Director GeneKranz quoted the first line of the poem in his book Failure Is Not An Option...
showing the esteem in which he was held by his superiors. Flight Director GeneKranz, who also worked the descent shift, described Greene as "elite in the...
gravitational anomaly, potentially altering Eagle's trajectory. Flight Director GeneKranz speculated that it could have resulted from extra air pressure in the...
pole. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt carried a second, identical flag to the Moon and back, and presented it to flight controller GeneKranz after the...
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