Professor Emeritus Bill Garrard Interviews with ABC on Apollo 11

The historic first moon landing occurred 50 years ago on July 20.  Hundreds of companies across the nation collaborated with NASA to make this incredible feat happen, this included companies from Minnesota.

In the 1960s, Honeywell was based in Minneapolis, and designed and built key components for the Apollo spacecraft. The company's contributions included vehicle stabilization and control systems, making it possible to maneuver the spacecraft from launch to touchdown on the moon. Honeywell also developed environmental controls providing oxygen and drinking water for the astronauts.

"I think it's absolutely astounding, yeah. The more I think about it in later years," said Dr. Bill Garrard. "Honeywell played a very major role. Honeywell was a leader in design of control systems and those were very, very important for the flight of Apollo,"

Video (c) ABC5