July 20, 2009

From The Earth To The Moon Via Bethpage


In case you've missed out on the nostalgia-fest, today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The airwaves and the Internets are filled with the famous clips, the iconic sound bites and the now elderly astronauts reminiscing about their heyday. I didn't think there was too much to add to this hubub until I read an article in today's TIMES about how NASA built all the lunar modules on Long Island, at a Grumman plant in Bethpage.
In fact, LI has a long history of being at the forefront of aerospace research and design, going back to Lindy's trans-Atlantic flight that left from Roosevelt Field (now Roosevelt Mall) back in 1927. Today, Long Island is known more for it's traffic jams and the Hamptons than for anything actually being built there. But it's interesting to note the major role it played in today's historic anniversary.