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 was not a freemason; his father, Stephen Koenig Armstrong, was an active freemason from 1931 until his death in 1990. (Grand Lodge F&AM Ohio 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.