M i s s i o n   C o n t r o l :   Autographs, Artifacts & Memorabilia

 

Eugene Kranz

Farthest Reaches is thrilled to be handling dozens of exciting artifacts from the personal collection of Flight Controller and Flight Director, Eugene F. Kranz.  Gene is also the author of the best selling autobiography “Failure Is Not An Option” 

 

As a NASA Flight Director Gene served as successor to NASA founding Flight Director Chris Kraft, during the Gemini and Apollo programs, and is best known for his role in directing the successful Mission Control team efforts to save the crew of Apollo 13, which later became the subject story of a major motion picture of the same name. Gene was played by actor Ed Harris.  He is also noted for his trademark close-cut flattop hairstyle, and the wearing of dapper white "mission" vests (waistcoats), of different styles and materials made by his wife, Marta Kranz, during missions for which he acted as Flight Director.  Eugene Kranz is a prominent and colorful figure in the history of U.S. manned space exploration, the embodiment of "NASA tough-and-competent" of the Kranz Dictum. Kranz has been the subject of movies, documentary films, and books and periodical articles. Kranz is a recipient of a Presidential Medal of Freedom.  In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Kranz was ranked as the #2 most popular space hero.

Please note that Eugene Kranz's proceeds from the sale of his personal artifacts and memoribilia are donated to the Shrine of the True Cross, Dickinson, Texas.

 

 

Gerry Griffin

Farthest Reaches is honored to be working with former NASA Flight Director Gerry Griffin.  Gerry first joined NASA in 1964 as a Project Gemini Flight Controller, specializing in guidance and navigation systems. In 1968 he became a Flight Director and served in that role for Apollo 7 through Apollo 17.  Gerry led his "Gold Team" of flight controllers as they played an important role in the resolution of the Apollo 13 crisis.  For those extraordinary efforts he was awarded the prestigious  Presidential Medal of Freedom  as a member of the Apollo 13 Mission Operations Team. From August 1982 until January 1986, Griffin served as Director of the Johnson Space Center in HoustonTexas.

 

Griffin provided his expertise as a technical adviser for the films Apollo 13Contact (also in front of the camera portraying a mission controller), Deep Impact (in front of the camera again as a flight controller) and Apollo 18. In the HBO mini series From the Earth to the Moon, he was portrayed by actor David Clyde Carr.

 

After retiring from NASA Gerry assumed the role of senior executive in the private sector with several companies and organizations. Today Gerry is a technical and management consultant for a broad range of clients. He is an active general aviation pilot/aircraft owner with a commercial license and instrument rating for single engine aircraft, multi-engine aircraft and helicopters.



 

Sy Liebergot

Farthest Reaches is most pleased to offer artifacts for sale, from the personal collection of Apollo 13 EECOM Sy Liebergot.  Sy was the Lead EECOM Flight Controller for Apollo missions 12 - 15 and an EGIL (Skylab EECOM) for all of the Skylab program missions.  On the international scene, Sy was the Lead EECOM for the American-Russian Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission.

 

As EECOM in Mission Control during Apollo 13, Sy was at the focal point of the crisis when the spacecraft  oxygen tank exploded. He has advised and contributed to several books concerning  Apollo 13  including the movie,  Apollo 13.