JULY 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 19
Astronaut Edwin E."Buzz" Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module pilot, is photographed during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
(Photo by Neil Armstrong/NASA Photo)
LI’S MOON MEN
BY JAMES BERNSTEIN
The vehicle that took a dozen U.S. astronauts to the moon starting a half-century ago
would not meet anyone’s definition of beauty: It looked like a giant grasshopper with
bugged-out eyes and spindly legs.
But the Apollo Lunar Module, also known as the Apollo Lunar Lander, was arguably the
most remarkable vehicle ever built, one that brought glory not only to its manufacturer,
Grumman Aerospace Corporation of Bethpage, but to the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration and to the United States. The nearly 10-year project to build the
LM was among Grumman’s proudest efforts, and the centerpiece of the company’s
contribution to America’s space effort.
For the country, the Moon program — NASA called it Project Apollo — began on May
25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy proposed before Congress that the U.S.
“should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man
on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.”
WHAT’S INSIDE continued on page 20
22 24 MOVERS &
25 26 NONPROFIT
27SPOTLIGHT
CHARITY
CORNER OFFICE SHAKERS
WHOLLY MOLI EVENTS
PRESS BUSINESS
LI COMMEMORATES ROLE IN BUILDING APOLLO LUNAR MODULE
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