History Channel Gene Kranz Show

[jrkeller]

The History Channel is going to show a program about Gene Kranz's adventures in Mission Control.

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-060403a.html

I like this quote,

"Throughout the film, Kranz reveals that behind the bland public face of Mission Control there was plenty of white knuckle drama going on; what appeared to be nearly flawless missions to the Moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses."

In other words, contrary to the HB claims that the missions to the moon were flawless, they were not. Can you believe it, the HBs didn't research something again!!!!!

[JayUtah]

According to conspiracists, the missions were white-knuckle episodes when the conspiracy theory needs to portray NASA as a bunch of bumbling fools. The missions were "suspiciously" routine and uneventful when the conspiracists need to say that there should have been more drama. In other words, they just make the observations fit their conclusions.

[AGN Fuel]

According to conspiracists, the missions were white-knuckle episodes when the conspiracy theory needs to portray NASA as a bunch of bumbling fools. The missions were "suspiciously" routine and uneventful when the conspiracists need to say that there should have been more drama. In other words, they just make the observations fit their conclusions.

I've been reading the post-mission reports from each of the Apollo flights in preparation for an assignment. One of the first things that really did strike me was how many events occurred that did not work precisely as planned. However, the second thing to strike me was that with multiple systems & redundancies, workarounds, sometimes slightly redefining the objectives, etc etc the issues were overcome.

For instance, a good example was the SPS light turning on translunar on A15 - the way the crew & Houston combined to find out where the problem lay, what the implications were and the workarounds, make for fascinating reading (boy, I really must get out more..... :D ).

Although these 'minor' problems typically didn't have the immediacy of peril of the A13 mishap (and accordingly didn't have movies made about them!), they are more representative of the issues that were encountered and professionally resolved by the Apollo teams.

The ad hoc world created by the conspiracist bears so little resemblance to reality......


------

[CincySpaceGeek]

If you're interested, Gene wrote a book not too long ago called "Failure Is Not An Option". In it he recounts his experiences in NASA from the time he signed on as an associate flight controller all the way up thru his time as flight director during Apollo and beyond. Gene writes as only he can and it's a great read for any Apollo fan.

You can check out reviews of the book on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009V2ND/qid=1057798801/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-8316361-6614435?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Thumper]

If you're interested, Gene wrote a book not too long ago called "Failure Is Not An Option".

I thought this book was fantastic. In his research for the writing, he went through official logs, personal notes, as well as interviewing and discussing the missions with as many people that were involved as possible.

He backs the point that each mission had its share of mishaps; some more harrowing than others. He strongly hints at why some astronauts never flew after their first mission.

[kucharek]

http://www.genekranz.com/

I told him about two glitches in his book by his website and received a few emails by Gene. :D

[jrkeller]

If you ever happen to get the chance to meet him, do. Here's a really nice guy.

[ToSeek]

Failure Is Not An Option is probably the best of the Project Apollo-related memoirs. Deke! and Michael Collins' book are the only others I can think of that are comparable.

[AstroSmurf]

"I'm in the same forum as two guys who've actually had contact with Gene Krantz!? Gosh! :o "

8)

[kucharek]

"I'm in the same forum as two guys who've actually had contact with Gene Krantz!? Gosh! :o "

8)

And you've a king who met at least one moonwalker (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/ap15-irwin-sweden.jpg)... ;-)

[jamestox]

I got to see Jim Lovell and Gunter Wendt (pad leader for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs) at their book signings....Jim's left-handed and Gunter had a photographer friend with the same name as mine! Both are really nice guys.

JT