# RIP Chris Kraft

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486 "2019-07-23T01:46:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/1 "2019-07-23T01:46:17Z")

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[NASA Flight Director Chris Kraft has died at 95](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-administrator-remembers-mission-control-pioneer-chris-kraft).

[Wikipedia biography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_C._Kraft_Jr.).

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**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/2 "2019-07-23T02:27:34Z")

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Wow, I’m surprised he lived that long, what with all the stress and the smoke-filled room where he worked for decades.

A true hero, nonetheless.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/3 "2019-07-23T07:20:16Z")

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That’s an eerie coincidence. I’m in the middle of reading _Apollo 8_ by Jeffrey Kluger and Kraft is a major character in the book.

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**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/4 "2019-07-23T07:46:57Z")

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A major asshole if I recall…

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**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/5 "2019-07-23T11:39:12Z")

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Reading his autobiography and Gene Kranz’s together is a fascinating exercise. Kranz had a Kraft and I did everything together air and Kraft’s was more yeah and there was this guy Gene Kranz. I’m exaggerating, but there is a distinct contrast.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/6 "2019-07-23T12:24:10Z")

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There was this odd thing when I was a kid that his name sounded the same as the company that owned a local TV station: Chris-Craft. Yeah, the boat people.

It always took a second for my mind to get the neurons connected right when I heard his name. And this holdover from decades ago was still there when I read the title.

You’d think that after watching a bunch of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights I would have done it automatically.

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-chris-kraft/837486/7 "2019-07-23T12:43:32Z")

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Very nice article: [Christopher Columbus Kraft, NASA’s legendary flight director, has died | Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/christiopher-columbus-kraft-nasas-legendary-flight-director-has-died/)

Brian