The autobiography of former mission
control boss, Gene Kranz, is
my favourite book. Mr. Kranz is the man
portrayed by Ed Harris in the film "Apollo 13."
Having grown up in the sixties and
seventies, the space programme
was part of my childhood. Space
travel has always held a fascination for me and as a boy I watched as
man and machine fought to survive
in the most dangerous and inhospitable
environment. During my
childhood, the space race, as it was known, was at
its height. My bedroom walls had rock stars on one wall and astronauts
and spacecraft on the others. The two protagonists in the space race,
the Soviet Union and the Americans,
battled to be first to put a man on the moon.
Technology was pushed to the limit as were the
men of the space programme and the technicians back
at mission control. One of these controllers was
Gene Kranz, who was Flight Director on the Apollo
programme which would ultimately land Neil Armstrong
and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon. Subsequent
missions landed a total of twelve men, each crew exploring the moon's
surface further, including the use of a small "Lunar Rover"
to cover longer excursions.
This was a wonderful adventure that
almost turned sour as a near fatal disaster befell Apollo 13. The now
famous words "Houston we have a problem," announced to the
world that Apollo 13 was in big trouble. An explosion in the Service
Module, located behind the small capsule carrying the astronauts, crippled
the small craft. Mission control guided the stricken crew back to Earth
and many believe this was NASA's finest hour. The Flight Director on
Apollo 13 was Gene Kranz, a crew cut, all American, no nonsense man.
It took several days to get the astronauts back to Earth and the world
held its breath as people prayed that all would be well. Against all
the odds the men survived using skill, courage and make-shift devices
cobbled together from various bits and pieces from the capsule's contents.
Mission controllers cheer as Apollo 13 safely splashes
down. Gene Kranz is second from the left.
Gene Kranz wept with joy as the astronauts
splashed down in the Pacific and the whole world cheered with relief.
The Apollo 13 crew, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, did indeed
owe a lot to Gene Kranz and his men in mission control. Without them
the crew would have been lost. The spirit with which they overcame problem
after problem was indeed a most amazing story. Gene Kranz's story is
equally inspiring and wonderfully told in his own words in the book
"Failure Is Not An Option." Its message is that one should
never give up, no matter how impossible life seems and no matter what
the odds.
This is truly a remarkable story about
a truly remarkable man.
