ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — 50 years ago today, Apollo 11 lifted off from Cape Kennedy, on mankind's first trip to the surface of the Moon. The landing four days later, and the astronauts safe return to Earth, honored the commitment made years earlier by President John F. Kennedy, a commitment that could not have been met without the engineers at McDonnell Aircraft in Hazelwood.
Those engineers designed and built America's first manned spacecraft: Mercury and Gemini. A few years ago, KMOX's Brian Kelly sat down with three of the engineers who were there from the beginning: Norm Bechel, Dean Purdy and Jerry Roberts...and they talked about that day in 1969 and how they helped put America in space and on the moon.
You can listen to his full report at the top of this page.