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February 5th, 2020

Gene Kranz to be Honored @ the 36th Space Symposium


On March 30, Gene Kranz will be honored during the Opening Ceremony of the 36th Space Symposium as the 2020 recipient of the Space Foundation’s highest honor – the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award.

Gene Kranz headed NASA’s Mission Control during some of the most dangerous and most-watched missions of the Apollo era, including the Apollo 11 lunar landing and the oxygen tank explosion of Apollo 13. 

In announcing this year’s recipient, Space Foundation Board Chairwoman and former NASA astronaut Dr. Kathryn Thornton said, "The power and respect that Gene delivered in leading flight control teams, the Flight Director Office, and all of the Mission Operation Directorate made a tremendous difference to my own missions to space, and helped secure American leadership in space for generations. He set performance metrics very high for everyone and we are all the better for it."


Gene Kranz

A 2010 Space Foundation survey ranked Kranz as the second most popular space hero.

Honoring the Space Foundation’s late, long-time chairman, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award recognizes outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves through lifetime contributions to humankind through exploration, development and use of space.

The award will be presented the evening of March 30, 2020, at the Opening Ceremony of the 36th Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.