Retired NASA Flight Director and manager Gene Kranz poses for a portrait next to the Apollo 17 Command Module, Thursday, July 11, 2019 at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

On October 19, 2006, former NASA director of Mission Operations Gene Kranz was a keynote speaker at the Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC’s) 2006 Annual Safety Day program. The best selling author of “Failure Is Not An Option” and past Apollo flight director was featured during a morning session called “Coffee and Kranz”. Marshall employees hung on his every word as he told the fascinating story of Apollo 13. Kranz was the acting flight director during the Apollo 13 mission, a mission that seemed doomed to fail due to an onboard explosion. Kranz and his flight control team worked around the clock relentlessly, solving problem after problem, until the crew was returned safely to Earth.

National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Emil de Cou, left, presents a ceremonial baton to retired NASA Flight Director and manager Gene Kranz at the Apollo 40th anniversary celebration held at the National Air and Space Museum, Monday, July 20, 2009 in Washington. Kranz was a guest conductor the night before at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, left, meets with Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director and manager, back stage after the "Salute to Apollo" ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA's week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director and manager, thanks the audience after having guest conducted of the National Symphony Orchestra during the "Salute to Apollo" ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA's week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director and manager, conducts the National Symphony Orchestra, while the U.S. Army Chorus and Alumni sing during the "Salute to Apollo" ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA's week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

S74-15520 --- Left to right Gene Kranz, Gene Cernan, Karla Garnuch, Harrison Schmitt, George Abbey, and Sigurd A. Sjoberg watching the dedication of the Apollo 17 flag to the Mission Control Center. Photo credit: NASA

S73-38346 (11 Dec. 1973) --- Two of the three Apollo 17 crewmen join in commemoration of their historical lunar landing mission of one year ago by presenting to flight controllers in Mission Control Center (MCC) the U.S. flag which flew with them to the moon. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, center, Apollo 17 commander, and Harrison H. Schmitt, right, lunar module pilot, are shown with Eugene F. Kranz, who accepted the flag on behalf of all the flight controllers during special ceremonies in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of MCC during the third manned Skylab mission. Kranz is chief of the Flight Control Division of the Flight Operations Directorate at JSC.

S73-38345 (11 Dec. 1973) --- Two of the three Apollo 17 crewmen join in commemoration of their historical lunar landing mission of one year ago by presenting to flight controllers in Mission Control Center (MCC) the U.S. flag which flew with them to the moon. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, center, Apollo 17 commander, and Harrison H. Schmitt, right, lunar module pilot, are shown with Eugene F. Kranz, who accepted the flag on behalf of all the flight controllers during special ceremonies in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of MCC during the third manned Skylab mission. Kranz is chief of the Flight Control Division of the Flight Operations Directorate at JSC.

S81-39431 (12 Nov. 1981) --- Eugene F. Kranz, left, and Dr. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. monitor data displayed on the FOD console in the mission operations control room (MOCR) in the Johnson Space Center?s mission control center following the successful launch of the Columbia, and the beginning of NASA?s second space shuttle mission. Dr. Kraft is director of the Johnson Space Center and Kranz is deputy director of the flight operations directorate (FOD) at JSC. Houston time for the launch was approximately 9:10 a.m., Nov 12, 1981. Photo credit: NASA

JSC2013-E-009914 (1969) -- Vice President Spiro Agnew pins Flight Director Eugene F. Kranz as NASA Administrator Thomas Paine and Apollo 9 Commander James A. McDivitt look on. Photo credit: NASA Hq. photo identification no. is 69-H-537

MOCR during Flight Day 1 of the STS-3 Mission. View: Thomas L. Moser, of the Structures and Mechanics Division, briefing Flight Director Eugene Kranz, Flight Operations, and Dr. Kraft, JSC Director. JSC, HOUSTON, TX

S72-54881 (6 Dec. 1972) --- This view shows the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR), flight director's console, during the Apollo 17 launch. This photograph shows Neil Hutchinson, Eugene Kranz and Gerald Griffin in the MOCR, Building 30, Mission Control Center (MCC).

S75-28682 (17 July 1975) --- An overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center during the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission in Earth orbit. The large television monitor shows a view of the Soyuz spacecraft as seen from the Apollo spacecraft during rendezvous and docking maneuvers. Eugene F. Kranz, JSC Deputy Director of Flight Operations, is standing in the foreground. M.P. Frank, the American senior ASTP flight director, is partially obscured on the right.

S66-32629 (1966) --- Left to right are Dr. Charles A. Berry, MSC Medical Director; Dr. Donald K. (Deke) Slayton, Director of Flight Crew Operations; Eugene F. Kranz, Flight Director; Charles W. Mathews, Gemini Program Manager, Manned Spacecraft Center; William C. Schneider, Gemini Mission Manager, NASA Headquarters; General Leighton Davis; Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Director; and Dr. George E. Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters.

41D-3073 (30 Aug 1984) --- The beginning stages of a busy six-day mission are monitored by some NASA officials in the flight control room (FCR-1) of the Johnson Space Center's (JSC) mission control center (MCC). They are (l.-r., foreground) Daniel M. Germany, manager of the Shuttle flight equipment project offices; Eugene F. Kranz, director of mission operations; and Clifford E. Charlesworth, director of space operations.

S65-22203 (April 1965) --- Prior to the Gemini-Titan 4 mission, flight director Eugene F. Kranz is pictured during a simulation at the Flight Director console in Houston's Mission Control Center on the Manned Spacecraft Center site. GT-4 was the first mission to be at least partially controlled from the Houston site. Photo credit: NASA

S65-62938 (16 Dec. 1965) --- John D. Hodge (foreground), Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (center) and Eugene F. Kranz discuss recovery operations for the Gemini-6 spacecraft in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston, Texas. The event was monitored via live television in MCC. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

JSC officials, laughing, listen to crewmembers' commentary onboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, during STS-26. In the Flight Control Room (FCR) of JSC's Mission Control Center (MCC) Bldg 30 and seated at the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) console, MOD Director Eugene F. Kranz (foreground), wearing red, white and blue vest, smiles along with JSC Director Aaron Cohen and Flight Crew Operations Deputy Director Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. (far right).

S72-35188 (16 April 1972) --- Flight director Eugene F. Kranz is seated at his console in the mission operations control room in the Manned Spacecraft Center's Mission Control Center on the morning of the launch of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission. Partially visible in the background is flight director Gerald D. Griffin. Photo credit: NASA

Wide angle view of flight controllers at work in the JSC mission control center during STS-4. Eugene F. Kranz, Deputy Director of Flight Operations at JSC, punches a key on his console in the MOCR during ascent phase of STS-4. Watching other monitors are JSC Director Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. and Neil B. Hutchinson. Beyond the FOD console in the foreground is the public affairs office (PAO) area, where John E. McLeaish, chief of public information, calls out ascent information on Columbia.

Conductor Emil de Cou and The U.S. Army Chorus and Alumni sing while Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director and manager, acts as guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, during the "Salute to Apollo" ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA's week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

President Donald Trump, center, speaks before signing an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council, alongside members of the Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Commercial Space Companies in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 30, 2017. Vice President Mike Pence, also in attendance, will chair the council. Also pictured are, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-California, Former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pennsylvania, Sandy Magnus, executive director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, David Melcher, executive director, Aerospace Industries Association, Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance, Michal Riley, CEO, AMRO Fabricating Corporation, John Couch, president, Futuramic, Mike Cain, owner, Cain Tubular Products, Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, Dennis Muilenburg, CEO Boeing Company, Marilyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin, Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman, retired NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin, NASA astronaut Alvin Drew, retired NASA astronaut David Wolf, Apollo 13 flight director, Gene Kranz, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Under Secretary of the Air Force Lisa Disbrow, and Acting Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Dawn Eilengerger. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

jsc2019e036671 (June 28, 2019) – Apollo 11 flight director Gene Kranz is surrounded by grand opening participants (from left) U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Kranz, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Chairman Milford Wayne Donaldson and Space Center Houston CEO William Harris in the visitors in NASA Johnson Space Center’s Teague Auditlorium. NASA’s Johnson Space Center reopened the fully restored Apollo Mission Control Center with a grand opening and ribbon cutting event with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on June 28. The room now is reconfigured to its Apollo-era condition. Many of the items in the restored room are original pieces from 1969 that were found or donated, and the missing items were replicated to ensure walking into the viewing room would feel like taking a step back in time. The restoration team used old photographs, footage, documents and interviews and discussions with Apollo veterans to set everything in its proper place, including coffee mugs, clothing articles and ashtrays. Beginning July 1, the Apollo Mission Control Center will become part of daily tours at Johnson hosted by Space Center Houston.

S81-39511 (14 Nov. 1981) --- The successful STS-2 landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California was cause for celebration in the Johnson Space Center?s Mission Control Center shortly before 3:30 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 14, 1981. JSC Director Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (center), not only applauds but enjoys a traditional ?touchdown? cigar, as well. Eugene F. Kranz (left), deputy director of flight operations at JSC, and Thomas L. Moser of the structures and mechanics division join the celebration. The second flight of the space shuttle Columbia lasted two days, six hours, 13 minutes and a few seconds. Photo credit: NASA

S70-35595 (18 April 1970) --- President Richard M. Nixon is welcomed to Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) and introduced by Dr. Thomas O. Paine, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The First Lady is at extreme left. Others on the speakers platform in this view are Barbara and Jeffrey C. Lovell, children of astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., commander; and Eugene F. Kranz (extreme right), one of four flight directors on duty around the clock during the mission. President Nixon was on the site to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team.

S70-35139 (13 April 1970) --- Overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), during the fourth television transmission from the Apollo 13 mission in space. Eugene F. Kranz (foreground, back to camera), one of four Apollo 13 flight directors, views the large screen at front of MOCR, astronaut Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot, is seen on the screen. The fourth TV transmission from the Apollo 13 mission was on the evening of April 13, 1970.

Various views of STS-6 MOCR activities during Day-5 with Vice-Pres. George Bush, Cap Communicator Bridges, JSC Director Gerald Griffin, Eugene F. Kranz, NASA Admin. James M. Beggs, Cap Com Astronaut O'Connor, Flight Directors Jay H. Greene, Gary E. Coen, and Harold Draughon. 1. BUSH, GEORGE, VICE-PRES. - STS-6 MOCR 2. DIR. GRIFFIN, GERALD D. - STS-6 MOCR 3. ADMIN. BEGGS, JAMES M. - STS-6 MOCR 4. FLT. DIRECTORS - STS-6 JSC, HOUSTON, TX Also available in 35 CN

S65-62062 (12 Dec. 1965) --- Discussing the scrubbing of the planned National Aeronautics and Space Administration?s Gemini-6 spaceflight are (from left) William C. Schneider (standing), deputy director, Gemini Program Office of Manned Spaceflight, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; Eugene F. Kranz (seated), white team flight director; Christopher C. Kraft Jr., red team flight director; and John D. Hodge, blue team flight director. The Gemini-6 mission has been rescheduled for Dec. 15, 1965. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

S70-35600 (18 April 1970) --- President Richard M. Nixon introduces Sigurd A. Sjoberg (far right), director of Flight Operations at Manned Spacecraft Center, and the four Apollo 13 flight directors during the President?s post-mission visit to the Manned Spacecraft Center. The flight directors are, from left to right, Glynn S. Lunney, Eugene A. Kranz, Gerald D. Griffin and Milton L. Windler. Dr. Thomas O. Paine, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is seated at left. President Nixon was on the site to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation?s highest civilian honor -to the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team.

This is a wide-angle view of flight controllers in the MOCR of Mission Control Center (MCC) during the STS-6 Extravehicular Activity (EVA). They are watching the large monitor in the front of the MOCR and small ones at individual consoles as Astronaut Donald H. Peterson translates along the Challenger's port side longerons. Flight Directors Gary E. Coen (left) and Harold M. Draughon are in the foreground. Astronauts John A. McBride and Guy S. Gardner man the Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM) Console near center frame. Standing behind the CAPCOM Console is Astronaut William F. Fisher. Eugene F. Kranz, Director of Mission Operations, stands at right near the Flight Operations Directorate Console. JSC, Houston, TX

STS030-S-004 (8 May 1989) --- JSC Officials monitor early moments of NASA's STS-30 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, flight in the Flight Control Room (FCR) of JSC's Mission Control Center (MCC) Bldg 30. At the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) console, MOD Director Eugene F. Kranz (foreground), studiously reviews data on a nearby monitor. Others in the photo are (left to right) Flight Directors Office Deputy Chief Lawrence S. Bourgeois, JSC Director Aaron Cohen, and Flight Crew Operations Deputy Director Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. Kranz'z replete loose-leaf notebook, bearing the insignia of the flight control team members (MOD insignia), is in the foreground.

JSC2012-E-029876 (14 Feb. 2012) --- During a ceremony on Feb. 14, at the Astrium North America facility in Houston, the group of participants monitors a demonstration of the gravitational research centrifuge which Astrium ST handed over to NanoRacks LLC representatives. From the left are Jeanne Kranz of the staff of U.S. Rep. Pete Olson; Jeanne Becker, President, CEO and Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS); Marybeth Edeen, U.S. National Lab manager at NASA?s Johnson Space Center; Ulrich Kuebler, Uwe Pape, and Achim Schwarzwaelder, all with Astrium ST . Astrium ST and NanoRacks are teaming up to cooperate with NASA to deliver a commercial centrifuge facility to the International Space Station. NASA Photo courtesy Astrium North America

S71-17610 (4 Feb. 1971) --- Partial view of activity in the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center at the time the Apollo 14 S-IVB stage impacted on the lunar surface. The flight director's console is in the foreground. Eugene F. Kranz, chief of the MSC Flight Control Division, is in the right foreground. Seated at the console is Glynn S. Lunney, head of the Flight Director Office, Flight Control Division. Facing the camera is Gerald D. Griffin, flight director of the Third (Gold) Team. A seismic reading from the impact can be seen in the center background. The S-IVB impacted on the lunar surface at 1:40:54 a.m. (CST), Feb. 4, 1971, about 90 nautical miles south-southwest of the Apollo 12 passive seismometer. The energy release was comparable to 11 tons of TNT.

S81-39507 (14 Nov. 1981) --- This unique, wide-angle view of the many flight controllers in Houston?s mission control facility was taken moments prior to the successful touchdown of the STS-2 Columbia. Clifford E. Charlesworth, JSC Deputy Director, huddles with several flight directors for STS-2 at the flight director console on the second-from rear row of consoles in the mission operations control room (MOCR). Eugene F. Kranz, deputy director of flight operations, is at far right of frame. Columbia shortly afterward touched down safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California to complete the two-day, six-hour, 13-minute STS-2 flight. Photo credit: NASA

jsc2019e036696 (June 28, 2019) – Apollo 11 flight director Gene Kranz talks to grand opening visitors in NASA Johnson Space Center’s Teague Auditorium. NASA’s Johnson Space Center reopened the fully restored Apollo Mission Control Center with a grand opening and ribbon cutting event with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on June 28. The room now is reconfigured to its Apollo-era condition. Many of the items in the restored room are original pieces from 1969 that were found or donated, and the missing items were replicated to ensure walking into the viewing room would feel like taking a step back in time. The restoration team used old photographs, footage, documents and interviews and discussions with Apollo veterans to set everything in its proper place, including coffee mugs, clothing articles and ashtrays. Beginning July 1, the Apollo Mission Control Center will become part of daily tours at Johnson hosted by Space Center Houston.

S70-35145 (17 April 1970) --- Overall view of Mission Operations Control Room in Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) during the ceremonies aboard the USS Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the Apollo 13 mission. Dr. Donald K. Slayton (in black shirt, left of center), director of Flight Crew Operations at MSC, and Chester M. Lee of the Apollo Program Directorate, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters, shake hands, while Dr. Rocco A. Petrone, Apollo program director, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters (standing, near Lee), watches the large screen showing astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., Apollo 13 commander, during the onboard ceremonies. In the foreground, Glynn S. Lunney (extreme left) and Eugene F. Kranz (smoking a cigar), two Apollo 13 flight directors, view the activity from their consoles.

S70-35145 (17 April 1970) --- Overall view of Mission Operations Control Room in Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) during the ceremonies aboard the USS Iwo Jima, prime recovery ship for the Apollo 13 mission. Dr. Donald K. Slayton (in black shirt, left of center), director of Flight Crew Operations at MSC, and Chester M. Lee of the Apollo Program Directorate, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters, shake hands, while Dr. Rocco A. Petrone, Apollo program director, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Headquarters (standing, near Lee), watches the large screen showing astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., Apollo 13 commander, during the onboard ceremonies. In the foreground, Glynn S. Lunney (extreme left) and Eugene F. Kranz (smoking a cigar), two Apollo 13 flight directors, view the activity from their consoles.

jsc2019e036695 (June 28, 2019) – Apollo 11 flight director Gene Kranz talks to grand opening visitors in NASA Johnson Space Center’s Teague Auditorium. NASA’s Johnson Space Center reopened the fully restored Apollo Mission Control Center with a grand opening and ribbon cutting event with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on June 28. The room now is reconfigured to its Apollo-era condition. Many of the items in the restored room are original pieces from 1969 that were found or donated, and the missing items were replicated to ensure walking into the viewing room would feel like taking a step back in time. The restoration team used old photographs, footage, documents and interviews and discussions with Apollo veterans to set everything in its proper place, including coffee mugs, clothing articles and ashtrays. Beginning July 1, the Apollo Mission Control Center will become part of daily tours at Johnson hosted by Space Center Houston.

President Donald Trump, center, asks who should receive the pen after signing an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council, alongside members of the Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Commercial Space Companies in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 30, 2017. Retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin was given the pen. Also pictured are, Vice President Mike Pence, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-California, Former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pennsylvania, Sandy Magnus, executive director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, David Melcher, executive director, Aerospace Industries Association, Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance, Michal Riley, CEO, AMRO Fabricating Corporation, John Couch, president, Futuramic, Mike Cain, owner, Cain Tubular Products, Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, Dennis Muilenburg, CEO Boeing Company, Marilyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin, Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman, NASA Astronaut Alvin Drew, retired NASA astronaut David Wolf, Apollo 13 flight director, Gene Kranz, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Under Secretary of the Air Force Lisa Disbrow, and Acting Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Dawn Eilengerger. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)