Thursday, July 16, 2026

16 Jul 2026

THURSDAY — LEADERSHIP, HISTORY & POWER

“The launch had been so successful that the other three were not needed.”

— Sarah A. Loff, NASA History

Kennedy set the objective in May 1961; Apollo 11 lifted off on this date in 1969. Between those two points sat an architecture, not a slogan: a fully trained backup crew, a free-return trajectory that could carry the vehicle home with no engine firing, and four midcourse corrections planned in advance. One was used. Mature organizations fund their abort paths and their margins before liftoff, then spend almost none of them. To learn more, Check out the article Apollo 11 Mission Overview.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Be strong. Lead well.

Chad