Aaron's quick thinking and Bean's memory saved what could have been an aborted mission, and earned Aaron the reputation of a "steely-eyed missile man".

This call earned Aaron the lasting respect of his colleagues, who declared that he was a "steely-eyed missile man", the absolute highest of NASA compliments.

He is widely credited with saving the Apollo 12 mission when it was struck by lightning shortly after liftoff, and he played an important role during the Apollo 13 crisis, earning him the highly complimentary appellation of "a steely-eyed missile man".