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[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. Kleinknecht2Manager,
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 301Venus, Florida
James Edwin Webbb. October 7, 1906Administrator, NASA
1961-1968
University Lodge
No. 408
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Astronauts
Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr.3b. January 20, 1930Gemini XII, Apollo 11Clear Lake Lodge
No. 1417
Seabrook, Texas
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. b. March 6, 1927Mercury 9, "Faith 7", Gemini VCarbondale Lodge
No. 82
Carbondale, Colorado
Donn F. Eiseleb. June 23, 1930Apollo 7Luthor B. Turner
Lodge No. 732
Columbus Ohio
John H. Glenn, Jr. 4b. July 18, 1921Mercury 6, "Friendship 7"Concord Lodge
No. 688
New Concord, Ohio
Virgil I. "Gus" GrissomApril 3, 1926 -
January 27, 1967
Mercury 4 "Liberty Bell 7", Gemini 3, Apollo 1Mitchell Lodge
No. 228
Mitchell, Indiana
James Irwin 41930-1991Apollo 15
Edgar D. Mitchellb. Sept. 17, 1930Apollo 14Artesia Lodge
No. 28
Artesia,
New Mexico
Walter M. Schirra, Jr.b. March 12, 1923Mercury 8 "Sigma 7", Gemini VI, Apollo 7Canaveral Lodge
No. 339
Cocoa Beach, Florida
Thomas P. Staffordb. Sept. 17, 1930Gemini VII, Gemini IX-A, Apollo 10, Apollo 18Western Star Lodge
No. 138
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Paul J. Weitzb. July 25, 1932Skylab 2, Challenger (STS-6)Lawrence Lodge
No. 708
Erie, Pennsylvania
Scientists
Vannever Bush1890-1974computer 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). Some masonic websites, this one included, failed to properly check their sources and for many years reported Neil Armstrong's father as Neil Armstrong Sr. Some websites—mostly masoniphobic—have further reported him as a 33° or a "Grand Officer", neither of which have been confirmed.
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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