Loading...
Videos
Apollo Article
Photo Gallery
Partners
Social Media

 

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Banner-NASA

July 20, 2019 marks the 50th Anniversary of the historic mission to land humans on the moon. On July 16, 1969 a Saturn V rocket powered by five Aerojet Rocketdyne F-1 engines, sent the Apollo 11 mission hurtling toward the Moon. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the Lunar surface; marking the occasion with Armstrong’s famous words: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

From the small bipropellant R4-D engines on the lunar lander, to the mighty F-1 and J-2 engines on the Saturn V, Aerojet Rocketdyne powered the Apollo missions every step of the way.

Infographic on the role Aerojet Rocketdyne played supporting the Apollo 11 mission.

    Infographic on the role Aerojet Rocketdyne played supporting the Apollo 11 mission. Click the image to enlarge.

Videos


On July 17, 2019 at 10am CT, we chatted live with NASA astronaut Lt. Gen. Tom Stafford to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

      

      

Apollo Program Sparks Three Generations of Aerojet Rocketdyne Employees

The Apollo 11 program not only inspired generations of Americans to look to the stars, but also encouraged generations of families to join the space business.  Meet the Fordyce family at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park facility.

Pictured from left to right in front of the F-1 engine at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park facility: Kyle Fordyce, his son Shaun, Jason Fordyce and Mike Fordyce.

    Pictured from left to right in front of the F-1 engine at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park facility: Kyle Fordyce,
    his son Shaun, Jason Fordyce and Mike Fordyce. Click the image to enlarge.

This family encapsulates the past, present and future of rocket science.  It all started with their father and grandfather, DeLyle (a.k.a. Beezie) Fordyce, the father of Mike Fordyce, and grandfather of Jason Fordyce and Kyle Fordyce.

Beezie began his career with the company in the early 1960s and supported most of the Apollo program missions. He was heavily involved in manufacturing the J-2 engines that we used as second and third stage engines on the Saturn V vehicle.  His son, Mike Fordyce, recalls hearing the engines being tested at Santa Susanna Field Lab during the 1960s.

Mike joined the company in 1990 and has worked on several programs throughout his career - most notably on the International Space Station program.

Jason and Kyle, the family’s third generation of Aerojet Rocketdyne employees, both currently work at the Los Angeles site as propulsion product specialists supporting RS-25 engine for NASA’s Space Launch System and launch abort engines for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Starliner program.

“Growing up I was proud that my father and grandfather worked at Aerojet Rocketdyne supporting hardware that went to space,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion product specialist Kyle Fordyce. They inspired me to reach for the stars and follow in their footsteps, and I hope to inspire my son to continue the legacy.”

Recently, Kyle’s son Shaun attended the Open House at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Los Angeles facility and is now inspired to work for the company. He’ll probably start at the company around 2040, making him a fourth generation employee.

Photo Gallery

Click each image to enlarge. 

J-2 Assembly Line in Canoga Park – Archive photo of the J-2 assembly line at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park facility. Six hydrogen-fueled J-2 rocket engines were used on the Saturn V to take humans to the moon. F-1 Engine Assembly Line in Canoga Park – Archive photo of the manufacturing line for the thrust chamber of the F-1 rocket engine – the most powerful liquid fueled rocket engine ever built in the United States. Five F-1’s were used to launch the Saturn V vehicle on the Apollo 11 mission – each engine produced 1/5 million pounds of thrust. F-1 Engine Installation at Michoud – F-1 rocket engines, each developing more than 1.5 million pounds of thrust, are installed in the first stage of the Saturn V vehicle. The first stage was developed and assembled by The Boeing Company at NASA’s Michoud operations in New Orleans. Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Five F-1’s provided the power for the first stage with more than 7.5 million pounds of thrust. Single J-2 Engine for Saturn V – A singe Aerojet Rocketdyne J-2 liquid rocket engine provides a maximum of 225,000 pounds of thrust for the third stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle. Apollo 11 Command Module – The Apollo 11 Command module Columbia and its service module orbit the moon during the historic July 1969 first lunar landing mission. Although designed to carry humans to the moon and back, the Apollo command and service modules (CSM’s) proved to be extremely versatile and flexible spacecraft. For the last three lunar missions, the service modules were modified to accommodate cameras and instruments used to map and measure the moon and its environment. J-2 Apollo Engine – Five J-2 engines are installed on the second stage of the Saturn V vehicle. Combined, the engines produced more than 1 million pounds of thrust that took astronauts to the moon on the Apollo 11 mission. F-1 Assembly – Archive photo of the F-1 assembly line at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Canoga Park, California facility. Five F-1’s were used to launch the enormous Saturn V vehicle on the Apollo 11 mission. F-1 on Test Stand in Mississippi – A workman holds the line on the giant S-IC first stage of the Saturn V space vehicle as it is placed into the test stand at NASA’s Mississippi Test Facility – now called Stennis Space Center. The big first stage has five F-1 engines, manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne that were used to launch the Apollo 11 astronauts on their journey to the moon. Photo courtesy of NASA. F-1 Thrust at Edwards – The highest thrust ever achieved – 1,640,000 pounds – poured from this thrust chamber on April 6, 1961, at NASA’s High Thrust Test Area at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test was one of a series that was carried out by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which built the engines for the Saturn V vehicle that launched the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon. Buzz Aldrin on the Moon – NASA Astronaut Buzz Aldrin becomes the second man to walk on the moon as he followed Neil Armstrong down the lunar module ladder. Aerojet Rocketdyne provided 63 propulsion systems that were used on the Saturn V vehicle and modules throughout the entire mission. Photo courtesy of NASA. Apollo 11 Key Events – In 1969, the company released a schedule of when the different events would occur to successfully land astronauts and safely return them home. Apollo 11 Key Events – In 1969, the company released a schedule of when the different events would occur to successfully land astronauts and safely return them home. Apollo 11 engines – A list of some of the Aerojet Rocketdyne engines that were used on the Apollo 11 mission.

 

AR is Proud to Partner with the Following Organizations in Promoting the Apollo 50th Anniversary

You can follow AR's Apollo 50th anniversary social media postings on Facebook and Twitter.