Sunday, March 26, 2000
NASA needs to go boldly, hero of moon program says
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HOUSTON — NASA needs an infusion of leadership and guts if the agency hopes to rekindle the widespread public support it had during the Apollo program.
America could use a dose, too.
So says Gene Kranz, the former NASA flight director who led the team effort in 1970 to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely back to Earth after a near-fatal explosion on their way to the moon.
“NASA has the most talented workers in its history,” Mr. Kranz said “The technology today is dazzling. We have everything we need except two things: leadership and guts.”
His remarks came March 8 as part of a speech to college students attending a two-week reduced gravity experiment program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Mr. Kranz has written a book about the early years of the space program, which he said will be published later this month. The first book signing is set for April 24 in Houston.
After retiring in 1994, Mr. Kranz spent about four years putting together his memories of the most dramatic years in U.S. space history. Along the way, he compared the present space program to the past — and found the present wanting.
NASA has become a “mature bureaucracy” that needs new leaders who can rebuild a public consensus about space. NASA needs leaders who can inspire Congress to spend the money, and forge a common sense of mission among NASA's legion of contractors, Mr. Kranz said.
Mankind hasn't left Earth orbit since 1972, when astronaut Gene Cernan of Apollo 17 left the last footprints on the moon. The international space station is years behind schedule. Robots have been sent to Mars but plans for human exploration of the Red Planet remain little more than fodder for the latest Hollywood adventure movie, Mission to Mars.
“It's time to get on and do something,” Mr. Kranz said.
Mr. Kranz is an ex-fighter pilot who still sports a crew cut, barrel chest and a voice of gravel. He was portrayed by actor Ed Harris in Apollo 13.(Mr. Kranz said he liked the film in most respects.)
To him, NASA's woes reflect an overall softness in American society.
“In the 1960s, we had great causes. Civil rights. The environment. The space program. People were willing to take risks for their convictions,” Mr. Kranz said. “Now, we're more interested in "What's good for me?' instead of "What's good for us?' We've become a nation of spectators rather than doers.”
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NASA needs to go boldly, hero of moon program says
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