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OverviewAI-generated
Eugene Francis Kranz is a United States citizen and former military officer who served in the United States Air Force. Born in Toledo in 1933, he was educated at Saint Louis University. His professional career spanned from 1960 to 1994, during which he was employed by NASA. He speaks English and has six children.
Kranz received several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. He is recognized in the Presidential Medal of Freedom collection.
Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Born
- Eugene Francis Kranz , ( 1933-08-17 ) August 17, 1933 (age 92) , Toledo, Ohio , U.S.
- Alma mater
- Saint Louis University 's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology , BS 1954
- Occupations
- 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 , Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 Flight Director during first lunar landing ( Apollo 11 )
- Predecessor
- Chris Kraft (first Lead Flight Director)
- Spouse
- Marta Cadena
- Parent
- Leo Peter Kranz (father)
- Awards
- Presidential Medal of Freedom NASA Distinguished Service Medal NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal NASA Exceptional Service Medal
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Francis
- Family name
- Kranz
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Toledo
- Employer
- NASA
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Military branch
- United States Air Force
- Image
- Eugene F. Kranz at his console at the NASA Mission Control Center.jpg
- Number of children
- 6
Show 5 more facts
- date of birth
- 1933-08-17
- Commons category
- Gene Kranz
- Commons gallery
- Gene Kranz
- start of work period
- 1960-00-00
- end of work period
- 1994-00-00
Sources (9)
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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. 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.
Kranz coined the phrase "tough and competent", which became known as the "Kranz Dictum". Kranz has been the subject of movies, documentary films, books, and periodical articles. Kranz is a recipient of a Presidential Medal of Freedom. In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Kranz was ranked as the second most popular space hero after Neil Armstrong.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gene Kranz” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.