Gene Kranz Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Gene Kranz (Class of 1951) has been named the 2021 recipient of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime Achievement.  Established in 1985, the award recognizes outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology and their history.  Trophy winners receive a miniature version of “The Web of Space,” a sculpture by artist John Safer.  The renaming of the trophy in 2020 (previously the National Air and Space Museum Trophy) recognizes Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins’ contributions to aerospace.

Kranz received this prestigious award as a result of a career of excellence and service in NASA’s space program.  He was honored for his remarkable accomplishments and success with NASA’s Mission Control for 34 years, from Project Mercury through STS-61, the first Hubble servicing mission.  He began his career in the U.S. Air Force, flying high-performance jet fighters including the F-80, F-86, and F-100.  In 1958, he worked as a flight-test engineer for McDonnell Aircraft developing the Quail Decoy Missile for B-52 and B-47 aircraft.  Kranz became assistant flight director for Project Mercury with the NASA Space Task Group at Langley, Virginia, in 1960.  He assumed flight director roles with Project Gemini and eventually the Apollo program, including Apollo 11.

Kranz’s leadership during the Apollo 13 crisis became well known to subsequent generations thanks to the popular film, Apollo 13 (1995), as well as Kranz’s own book and public speaking. He continued providing expertise for many other NASA missions throughout his career, including the Skylab Program and Space Shuttle operations. Kranz previously received the Ambassador of Exploration Award from NASA in 2007. The award includes a piece of the moon and is on display in Central Catholic’s Moon Room.

Click HERE to watch a video about Gene’s incredible life story produced by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.