Man's First Steps
The Lunar Module, or LM, was designed to carry a crew of two to the moon’s surface. Once on the surface of the moon, the astronauts would use it as a base. When the astronauts were ready to return to the main capsule, the top portion of the LM would serve as transport. My father worked for Astrosystems in New Hyde Park at that time. He was in the Quality Control Department and was responsible for checking the quality of the wire harnesses to make sure they were built to the specifications on the blueprint/installation instructions. On July 20, 1969, we all watched as Apollo 11 took off for the moon. On July 21st, we watched as the Lunar Module named the Eagle, landed on the moon at Tranquility Base. I think everyone in the country
Armstrong snaps a picture of Aldrin 1969 celebrated this accomplishment. I remember we banged pots and yelled and shouted with joy. We listened to Neil Armstrong's words as he became the first man to walk on the surface of the moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin 19 minutes later. Then, after spending just over 21 hours on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Lunar Module to start the journey home. I think you could have heard a pin drop in our house as we held our breath, waiting for the LM to take off to meet up with the command module. My dad was so nervous. If the engines failed to light, that meant that the wiring harnesses failed, and he would have felt 
Leaving the moonthat he failed. We watched as the engines lit up, and it finally took off from the moon. I remember hearing my dad start breathing again, and he yelled, "YES!" I am sure that those same emotions went through the 10,000 employees at Grumman who worked on the LM, as well as all of the people who worked on the outsourced materials.
