Day 4 (5/15/14): Meeting a Space Legend

May 15th, 2014 marks not only the 10th anniversary of the Challenger Learning Center, but also 45th anniversary of Apollo 11, man’s first visit to the moon. To celebrate two monumental events, Gene Kranz came in to interact with both the media and a group of children from a gifted class from Commons Lane Elementary School. 

Gene Kranz was the flight director for all the Gemini flights and for both Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. He is currently a retired director of NASA Mission Operations. He is also the person who coined the phrase: “Failure is not an option. ”

During his interviews with Channel 2 and HEC-TV, he reminisced about the Apollo 11 mission, how it was almost aborted, the incredible people he worked with, and what it was like to be a part of great historical event for humankind. After his interviews, Kranz talked with us, the crew/staff, for a bit. I even had a short conversation with him! 

After the conversations, Kranz joined us and the students on a mission to the moon. He mainly stayed in the control room, giving out words of encouragement and congratulations to the hard working students. He was in the spaceship for a bit too. But while he was in there, a meteriod passed dangerouly close to the ship and he was forced to take cover with the rest of the moon-bounded students. While the students conferences with each other on how they needed to proceed with the mission, Kranz also gave some insight on what they could do from his previous experiences too. Overall, the mission was a success and half of the students landed on the moon. Later, they students successfully launched rockets with Kranz. 

During these events, I was briefly interviewed by HEC-TV for a documentary they were doing on STEM(Science Technology Engineering Math) education. As a Challenger Learning Center alumni, they asked me how the center had helped me to expand my interests in space and STEM in general. They also asked he the center has helped to shape my dreams and future plans. 

Overall, it was a fun and eventful day. 

The man, the legend: Gene Kranz

Getting interviewed for HEC-TV

The Crew and Mr. and Mrs. Kranz

Failure is not an option. 
-Gene Kranz