Timeline: The Road to Grumman's Lunar Module
Grumman engineers observe test astronaut entering the M-5 mock-up in October 1964. One of the astronaut's major concerns was that they had great difficulty getting their square backpacks in and out of the round hatch. Credit: Cradle of Aviation Museum
October 1957: The Soviet Union startles the world by rocketing Sputnik 1, the first manmade satellite, into orbit
January 1958: The United States sends its first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit
July 1958: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
October 1960: Fourteen companies, including Bethpage-based Grumman and Farmingdale-based Republic Aviation Corp., submit proposals for NASA’s Apollo program
December 1960: Grumman begins a company-funded feasibility study of a lunar-orbit rendezvous, one of three proposed techniques for executing a moon mission
January 1961: At a Langley Research Center conference in Maryland, NASA researcher John C. Houbolt explains the weight savings of a lunar rendezvous technique as opposed to a direct ascent from the earth to the moon
January 1961: NASA launches Ham, a chimpanzee, aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket and recovers him safely after a suborbital flight
April 1961: The launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in orbit, makes clear the Soviets remain ahead in the nascent space race
May 1961: Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. makes a suborbital flight in Freedom 7, the first manned U.S. space flight
May 1961: President John F. Kennedy, in a speech before Congress, calls for a manned lunar landing before the end of the decade
November 1961: Houbolt breaks protocol and writes to a top NASA administrator, protesting the exclusion of the lunar orbital rendezvous technique from serious consideration
January-June 1962: Grumman works on a company study of the lunar orbit rendezvous technique compared to the direct ascent and earth orbit rendezvous options
February 1962: Astronaut John Glenn Jr. is the first American to reach orbit aboard Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7
February 1962: In planning for upcoming NASA budgets, Wernher von Braun, director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, designates earth orbit rendezvous as the primary mode for a lunar landing, dealing a blow to Grumman’s chances of building the lunar module.
April 1962: NASA officials review the lunar orbit rendezvous technique
June 1962: Von Braun reverses course and recommends lunar orbit rendezvous be used for manned moon missions; top NASA officials adopt the recommendation
September 1962: Nine companies, including Grumman and Republic, submit proposals for the lunar module
November 1962: NASA selects Grumman
March 1963: Grumman signs a contract to build the lunar module for $387.9 million
Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.
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