What is the common thread: July 1961, February 1962, May 1963?

Senior Moments

All part of the US space programme. Mr. Kranz participated in creating its procedures from the ground up. He was part of the Mission Control team that in January 1961 launched a chimp into space, in May 1961 made Alan Shepard the first American in space, in July 1961 placed Gus Grissom in orbit, in February 1962 orbited John Glenn around earth three times, and in May 1963 launched Gordon Cooper to complete the last Mercury mission with 22 earth orbits. During the Apollo missions, Mr. Kranz was one of those who undertook responsibility for the Apollo 1 tragedy in which Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were consumed during a launch pad fire. He was flight director for Apollo 11, when Neil Armstrong stepped out on the moon, and for Apollo 13. (Anyone who's seen the film will remember the actor Ed Harris playing Mr. Kranz with his signature waistcoats and buzz cut proclaiming 'failure is not an option,' which the real Mr. Kranz never said.) Despite the advent of a new generation of flight directors and his own post-lunar tristesse, Mr. Kranz spent his working life in {NASA;} the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope was his last Mission Control project. Mar 18 02, 3:07 AM