Teams, "the Human Factor" and "the Right Stuff"
Kranz was the leader of the "white team", a shift at mission control that contributed to saving the Apollo 13 astronauts. Though Apollo 13 did not achieve its main objective, to Kranz its astronauts' rescue is an example of the "human factor" born out of the 1960s space race. According to Kranz, this factor is what is largely responsible for helping put America on the moon in only a decade. The blend of young intelligent minds working day in and day out by sheer willpower yielded "the right stuff."
Gene Kranz had this to say about the "human factor":
"They were people who were energized by a mission. And these teams were capable of moving right on and doing anything America asked them to do in space."
According to him, a few organized examples of this factor included Grumman, who developed the Apollo Lunar Module, North American Aviation, and the Lockheed Corporation. After the excitement of the 1960s, these companies dissolved into corporate mergings, such as happened when Lockheed became Lockheed Martin. Another example of the "human factor" was the ingenuity and hard work by teams that developed the emergency plans and sequences as new problems arose during the Apollo 13 mission.
Read more about this topic: Gene Kranz
Famous quotes containing the words human, factor and/or stuff:
“A potent quack, long versed in human ills,
Who first insults the victim whom he kills;
Whose murd’rous hand a drowsy bench protect,
And whose most tender mercy is neglect.”
—George Crabbe (1754–1832)
“Children of the middle years do not do their learning unaffected by attendant feelings of interest, boredom, success, failure, chagrin, joy, humiliation, pleasure, distress and delight. They are whole children responding in a total way, and what they feel is a constant factor that can be constructive or destructive in any learning situation.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)
“Y’know Pete, back where I come from folks call that love stuff “quick poison” or “slow poison.” If it’s quick poison it hurts you all over real bad like a shock of electricity. But if it’s slow poison, well, it’s like a fever that aches in your bones for a thousand years.”
—Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976)