Contributions of aerospace workers further cemented in Downey
Excerpt: Downey has long been a special place in the world’s aerospace history. We are known as the Birthplace of the Apollo program, and astronauts came here regularly. Thirty-seven years ago this month, Queen Elizabeth II arrived, with a cavalcade of cars to check out a mock-up of the Space Shuttle and the Apollo 14 Command Module.
Enterprises of great pith and moment took place in Downey during the great 20th Century Space Race, and North American Aviation “is what put us on the world stage,” said many of the speakers at Friday’s ceremony.
The old-timers, the retired employees, were being honored at the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a museum that stands on the exact site where these men and women built the modules that carried humans into lunar orbit and lunar landings.
These men and women worked on the various aerospace programs in Downey. Friday wasn’t so much about the dazzling array of products manufactured here, but the workers themselves.
“We recognize your work, your love of country and your special skills,” said State Sen. Bon Archuleta. “Employees, raise your hands.” Some 60 in the audience did.
One of those recovered Apollo command modules hovers permanently beside the Space Center patio, where on Friday Space Center Director Ben Dickow opened the outdoor ceremonies honoring the dedicated retired employees of North American Aviation (through a series of mergers, North American Aviation later became known as North American Rockwell),
The weather cooperated, as if it were a day for a space shot. Under a pale February sky, shiny blue tarps covered two mysterious objects alongside a pocket park located on the entry patio to the museum. A pink-flowering Chinese magnolia and planters with red camellia bushes had been installed next to two concealed special gifts, identity to be revealed later.