Monthly Archives: July 2019
The Final Frontier: Bendix and the Apollo Program
It was 50 years ago, on July 20, 1969, that U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. This remarkable accomplishment was achieved less than 10 years after President John F. Kennedy challenged the U.S. on May 25, 1961, in his famous speech: “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 the earth.” Going to the moon required innovation, engineering, and an enormous amount of manpower. The craft sent to the moon featured the largest rocket ever built, with the most complicated equipment ever designed, and cost billions of dollars to develop. The equipment needed for the Apollo missions was a marvel of engineering, with every part critical to the program’s success. South Bend’s Bendix Corporation was essential in its development.
