Apollo 13 Gene Kranz Lydia Trexler

Gene Kranz ( Early Years ) Kranz was born in Toledo, Ohio He grew up on a farm His father died in 1940, when Eugene was only seven years old. His early fascination with flight was apparent in the topic of his high school thesis, entitled "The Design and Possibilities of the Interplanetary Rocket".

Gene Kranz ( Mid Years ) Kranz graduated from Saint Louis University's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology in 1954 Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, completing pilot training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas in Kranz married Marta Cadena Kranz was sent to South Korea to fly the F-86 Sabre aircraft for patrol operations around the Korean DMZ. When he came back, he went to work for McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, where he helped with the research and testing of new Surface-to-Air (SAM) and Air-to-Ground missiles for the U.S. Air Force at its Research Center at Holloman Air Force Base.

Gene Kranz ( NASA Career ) After spending time researching, he joined the NASA Space Task Group He was then assigned as a Mission Control procedures officer for the unmanned Mercury-Redstone 1 (MR-1) test Kranz performed this role for all unmanned and manned Mercury flights, including MR-3 and MA-6 flights, which had the first Americans into space. After MA-6, he became Assistant Flight Director for the MA- 7 flight of astronaut Scott Carpenter in May, 1962 and several other flights. He then became the Flight Director level and served his first shift, the "operations shift," for the Gemini 4 mission in 1965, the first U.S. EVA and four-day flight. After Gemini, he served as a Flight Director on odd-numbered Apollo missions, including Apollos 7 and 9. He was the Flight Director for Apollo 11 which landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Apollo 13 his role as lead flight director during NASA's Apollo 13 manned Moon landing mission.Apollo 13 Kranz's team was on duty when part of the Apollo 13 service module exploded and they dealt with the initial hours of the unfolding accident.service module His "White Team", dubbed the "Tiger Team" by the press, set the constraints for the consumption of spacecraft consumables (oxygen, electricity, and water) and controlled the three course- correction burns during the trans-Earth trajectory, as well as the power-up procedures that allowed the astronauts to land safely back on Earth in the command module. He and his team, as well as the astronauts, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their roles.Presidential Medal of Freedom Kranz has the greatest pride as the NASA MSC flight director ("Crew safety is the first priority"—Kranz).

Apollo 13 ( The Movie ) Charismatic leader- He gains the trust from his team on the Earth through visible self-sacrifice and taking personal risks. This shows the followers that they are very passionate about their vision and they will make personal sacrifices in an effort to attain goals for the organization as a whole. (clip 10) He is passionate about getting them home When the NASA director said that this could be the worst disaster in the history of NASA, Kranz cut him off. "With all due respect sir, I think this is going to be our finest hour." Perhaps that's the gem. As a leader, you aren't paid to coast on the good times. I really think you earn your pay when you face a problem. Overcoming a problem is a true victory. Sure, hitting home runs is nice. But I love the relay throw from the fence that cuts a run off at home. How you deal with adversity will greatly impact how you do on this wonderful planet. Because adversity seems to find you no matter where you go We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as (heck) not going to lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option. Tenacity and resilience. It could get done, and it would get done. Do not treat failure as a viable option or outcome.

Task- Oriented - leadership is a behavioral approach in which the leader focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order to meet certain goals, or to achieve a certain performance standard. He makes the team focus on how they are going to turn them around. He helps the team focus on how they are going to filter the carbon dioxide He helps the team come to together and focus while they are in space Prioritize and Communicate he didn't worry about anything else besides saving the crew. The lunar landing objective was abandoned within minutes of the initial explosion. And everyone on the gigantic NASA team understood it. I don't care what anything was DESIGNED to do. I care about what it CAN do. As NASA's scientists worked the problem, Kranz made them think outside the box. They broke down systems and used the parts to create new tools and systems that helped saved lives. How many solutions or skill sets are there for the taking in what you already have?

Explanatory Leadership - He was a leader who was able to explain things well, so his followers (the Team could get it) (clip 5, 10) He explained the situation to the team clear and to the point He explained what they had to do to figure out what needed to be done He also keep some information from the team in the space to keep them calm "The only engine we got with enough power for a direct abort is the SPS on the service module. From what Lovell has told us, that could have been damaged in an explosion, so let's consider that engine dead. We light that thing up, it could blow the whole works. It's just too risky. We're not going to take that chance. About the only thing the command module is good for is reentry, so that leaves us with the LEM, which means free-return trajectory. Once we get the guys around the moon, we'll fire the LEM engine, make a long burn, pick up some speed, and get them home as quickly as we can. ” " Gentlemen, at this moment, I want you all to forget the flight plan. From this moment on, we are improvising a new mission: How do we get our people home"

Meditative Leadership- He helped his crew on the ground focus on what they did know so they could figure out a solution when the team started arguing he would defuse it by reminding them they did not have much time to solve the problem Work the problem, people. Kranz knew that every problem has a solution, or at least the damage could be managed. But you have to be methodical and work through the issues. Stop worrying, and start working. Once you understand the problem, you have to answer these questions: What can you do? What is beyond your control? Where can you get help? "Okay, hold it. Let's hold it down"