I had never realized how young Gene Kranz was when he led Mission Control at NASA. Born in 1933, Kranz was just 36 years old during the Moon landings and the Apollo 13 crisis. He’s not so known for this, but he was 34 when the Apollo 1 caught fire. Apollo 11 is a success story about how the Moon was attained. In its more particular way, Apollo 13 is a success story about how disaster was averted. And, I think, in its very unique and quiet way, Apollo 1 is also a success story about conquering failure. When the pressure is too much, when you don’t even dare think what could happen if you failed, when you realize that deadlines are approaching and you know you’re just juggling stuff and you know it’d take a miracle for things to come together, sometimes things go very wrong. Things go Apollo 1 wrong. But then there’s what you do with it, and that’s what changes everything. From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent’. ‘Tough’ means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. ‘Competent’ means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write ‘Tough and Competent’ on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director & Mission Operations Director (1960 - 1990)

I had never realized how young Gene Kranz was when he led Mission Control at NASA. Born in 1933, Kranz was just 36 years old during the Moon landings and the Apollo 13 crisis. He’s not so known for this, but he was 34 when the Apollo 1 caught fire.

Apollo 11 is a success story about how the Moon was attained. In its more particular way, Apollo 13 is a success story about how disaster was averted. And, I think, in its very unique and quiet way, Apollo 1 is also a success story about conquering failure.

When the pressure is too much, when you don’t even dare think what could happen if you failed, when you realize that deadlines are approaching and you know you’re just juggling stuff and you know it’d take a miracle for things to come together, sometimes things go very wrong. Things go Apollo 1 wrong. But then there’s what you do with it, and that’s what changes everything.

From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent’. ‘Tough’ means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. ‘Competent’ means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write ‘Tough and Competent’ on your blackboards. It will never be erased.

Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director & Mission Operations Director (1960 - 1990)

I had never realized how young Gene Kranz was when he led Mission Control at NASA. Born in 1933, Kranz was just 36 years old during the Moon landings and the Apollo 13 crisis. He’s not so known for this, but he was 34 when the Apollo 1 caught fire. Apollo 11 is a success story about how the Moon was attained. In its more particular way, Apollo 13 is a success story about how disaster was averted. And, I think, in its very unique and quiet way, Apollo 1 is also a success story about conquering failure. When the pressure is too much, when you don’t even dare think what could happen if you failed, when you realize that deadlines are approaching and you know you’re just juggling stuff and you know it’d take a miracle for things to come together, sometimes things go very wrong. Things go Apollo 1 wrong. But then there’s what you do with it, and that’s what changes everything. From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent’. ‘Tough’ means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. ‘Competent’ means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write ‘Tough and Competent’ on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director & Mission Operations Director (1960 - 1990)

I had never realized how young Gene Kranz was when he led Mission Control at NASA. Born in 1933, Kranz was just 36 years old during the Moon landings and the Apollo 13 crisis. He’s not so known for this, but he was 34 when the Apollo 1 caught fire.

Apollo 11 is a success story about how the Moon was attained. In its more particular way, Apollo 13 is a success story about how disaster was averted. And, I think, in its very unique and quiet way, Apollo 1 is also a success story about conquering failure.

When the pressure is too much, when you don’t even dare think what could happen if you failed, when you realize that deadlines are approaching and you know you’re just juggling stuff and you know it’d take a miracle for things to come together, sometimes things go very wrong. Things go Apollo 1 wrong. But then there’s what you do with it, and that’s what changes everything.

From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent’. ‘Tough’ means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. ‘Competent’ means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write ‘Tough and Competent’ on your blackboards. It will never be erased.

Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director & Mission Operations Director (1960 - 1990)

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  1. sourberries posted this

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My name is Luz and I move a lot, form apartment to apartment, from city to city, from country to country.
Over time I have developed my own small nomadic idiosyncrasy. I've given up my material possessions more than once. I grew apart from people and then re-found them. I have entered places foreign and then became local. I learned to cook food with varied ingredients and to love goat cheese.
Wandering is about experiencing. Not everything has been great, not everything has gone as planned. Maybe not everything was planned that well. But there was also good in the unexpected. I've encountered and all kinds of things, people and places: some that I met along the way, some that I left behind and learned how different they look from afar, and some that just popped into my mind during a long train ride alone.

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