Kranz, Eugene "Gene" F. (1933–)
NASA flight director for the Apollo
11 lunar landing and head of the Tiger Team for the successful return of
Apollo 13; he was memorably portrayed,
wearing his trademark white waistcoat, in the Tom Hanks film of the ill-fated
thrid moonshot. After receiving a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from
Parks College of Saint Louis University (1954), Kranz was commissioned in
the US Air Force and flew high-performance jet fighters. In 1960, he joined
the NASA Space Task Group at Langley and
was assiged as assistant flight director for Project
Mercury. He served as a flight director for all the Gemini
missions, was appointed division chief for flight control in 1968, and continued
his duties as flight directo for the Apollo and Skylab
programs before being assigned as deputy director of flight operations with
responsibility for spaceflight planning, training and mission operations,
aircraft operations, and flight crew operations. In 1983, Kranz was promoted
to director of mission operations with added responsibility for the design,
development, maintenance, and operations of all related mission facilities,
as well as the design preparation of the Space
Shuttle flight software. Since his retirement from NASA in 1994, he
has been involved with consulting, motivational speaking to youth groups,
and lecturing on manned spaceflight. He also serves as flight engineer on
a B-17 Flying Fortress that performs at air shows throughout the United
States. His autobiography, Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control
from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond, was published in 2000.
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