[Masons in Space]
Freemasons have always been in the forefront of the scientific community; from the founding of the British Royal Society to today’s NASA programme in the United States.
The following is a short and incomplete list 1 of Brethren who have contributed to the exploration of outer space.
Administration
Kenneth S. Kleinknecht2 Manager,
Apollo Program
Command and Service Modules.
Deputy Manager,
Gemini Program
Manager, Project Mercury. Fairview Lodge
No. 699 Fairview, Ohio
Clark C. McClelland ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet
1958 - 1992 Lodge 301 Venus, Florida
James Edwin Webb b. October 7, 1906 Administrator, NASA
1961-1968 University Lodge
No. 408 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Astronauts
Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.3 b. January 20, 1930 Gemini XII, Apollo 11 Clear Lake Lodge
No. 1417 Seabrook, Texas
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. b. March 6, 1927 Mercury 9, "Faith 7", Gemini V Carbondale Lodge
No. 82 Carbondale, Colorado
Donn F. Eisele b. June 23, 1930 Apollo 7 Luthor B. Turner
Lodge No. 732 Columbus Ohio
John H. Glenn, Jr. 4 b. July 18, 1921 Mercury 6, "Friendship 7" Concord Lodge
No. 688 New Concord, Ohio
Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom April 3, 1926 -
January 27, 1967 Mercury 4 "Liberty Bell 7", Gemini 3, Apollo 1 Mitchell Lodge
No. 228 Mitchell, Indiana
James Irwin 4 1930-1991 Apollo 15
Edgar D. Mitchell b. Sept. 17, 1930 Apollo 14 Artesia Lodge
No. 28 Artesia,
New Mexico
Walter M. Schirra, Jr. b. March 12, 1923 Mercury 8 "Sigma 7", Gemini VI, Apollo 7 Canaveral Lodge
No. 339 Cocoa Beach, Florida
Thomas P. Stafford b. Sept. 17, 1930 Gemini VII, Gemini IX-A, Apollo 10, Apollo 18 Western Star Lodge
No. 138 Weatherford, Oklahoma
Paul J. Weitz b. July 25, 1932 Skylab 2, Challenger (STS-6) Lawrence Lodge
No. 708 Erie, Pennsylvania
Scientists
Vannever Bush 1890-1974 computer pioneer and
internet visionary Richard C.
Maclaurin Lodge Cambridge, Massachusetts
NOTES:-
1. The New Age Magazine. Supreme Council 33° A.&A. Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction, Washington, D.C.: November 1969. pp. 14-30.
2. Eldest son of Christian Frederick Klienknecht. Ibid. page 23.
3. Astronauts were allowed to carry personal items. Aldrin carried an embroidered flag depicting the emblem of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction. See correspondence.
4. Freemasons Who Made A Difference Jim Harrison. Gavel Society, Vancouver, Canada: 1992.
Neil Armstrong, Jr. is not a freemason; his father, Neil Armstrong, Sr. is an active freemason. (Ohio Grand Lodge of Freemasons records).
Flight information cited from Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide. Valerie Neal, Cathleen S. Lewis, Frank H. Winter, in Association with the National Air and Space Museum, The Smithsonion Institution, Washington, D.C., New York, 1995. Image detail from NASA photo of Aldrin, modified by Stanley Q. Woodvine in 1998.
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