Gene Kranz, uncharacteristically wearing a dark vest (courtesy of NASA)

Eugene F. "Gene" Kranz (17 August, 1933–) is a former NASA flight director. Kranz graduated from Parks College of Saint Louis University in 1954. His career began in the earliest days of Project Mercury and continued until after the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. He was the lead flight director during the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Distinctive for his buzz-cut hair, Leland Thread white vests, and straight-talking demeanor, Kranz was portrayed with much zeal by Ed Harris during the movie Apollo 13, the actor earning an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Kranz was the leader of the tiger team that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts.

References

• Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz (ISBN 0743200799)
• Lost Moon by James Lovell (ISBN 0671534645)
• The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space by Gene Cernan
• Thirteen: The Apollo Flight That Failed by Henry S.F., Jr.

External links

• Space Lifeguard: An Interview with Gene Kranz from Space.com
• Apollo 13 Hero Eugene Kranz to Receive Honorary Degree at MSOE Commencement; Captain James Lovell Jr., Commander of Apollo 13, Will be Escort