Lunar Module

Keeping with President John F. Kennedy's commitment on May 25, 1961, four months after his inauguration, "I believe that this nation 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". A commitment that would take man on the 225,000 mile journey to the moon - our new frontier.

Who better to design and build such a craft then the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. Grumman craftsmanship already established the reputation, "as good as the sterling stamp on silver", for its design and production of aircraft which helped win World War II. Now the craft for the Apollo mission had to perform outside man's environment, and be designed solely for space travel. In 1963 Grumman was awarded the contract to design and build the Lunar Excursion Module (later to be known as the Lunar Module or LM). A contract that would end up being worth 2.3 billion dollars, and at its peak 7000 Grumman employees would be assigned to the Lunar Module project.

On July 20, 1969, the world watched with apprehension and wonder as Neil Armstrong stepped off the Lunar Module-5 Eagle, and was the first man to step foot on the surface of the moon. He was joined by Edwin Aldrin Jr., they firmly planted the American Flag, sent information back to earth, collected material from the moon, and conducted scientific experiments. They returned to the Lunar Module and rejoined the Command Module, piloted by Michael Collins, for the safe journey back to earth.

There were six successful missions where the Lunar Module took twelve astronauts to the surface of the moon and back, and one historic rescue mission in space. The rescue took place on April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was 205,000 miles from earth and on its way to the moon when an oxygen tank in the service module failed and threatened the lives of the three astronauts. The Lunar Module performed as the lifeboat in space and returned the crew safely to earth.

The people in Bethpage are proud to boast, "that no where in the world can one claim the honor of having designed and built the craft that put a man on the moon, and return him safely to earth".

Lunar Module 13 is on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island.