It was the impression of Neil Armstrong's boot that was left on the lunar surface, but the City of Sarnia has its own indelible footprint on the historic moon landing of 50 years ago.
Sarnia Historical Society Editor-In-Chief Phil Egan said Sarnia-born engineer, the late Owen Maynard, played an integral role in putting a man on the moon July 20, 1969.
"He was in fact the man most responsible for the design of the lunar lander, otherwise known as the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module), what Neil Armstrong referred to as the Eagle," said Egan. "So that was fully, originally designed by Owen Maynard who was a Sarnia boy."
Chris Hadfield talks about making childhood dreams come true at The Gathering in Sarnia June 28, 2014 (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)
The night of the moon landing, another Sarnia boy gazed up at the moon at his parents' cottage on Stag Island in the St. Clair River just south of Sarnia. An impressionable nine-year-old Chris Hadfield vowed to one day be an astronaut. His ambitious dream, of course, came true and is well documented.
Owen Maynard doesn't have the name recognition of Chris Hadfield, but his contributions to the Apollo program and the design of the vehicle that put Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon are significant.
His son Ross is excited about Saturday's 50th anniversary of what is widely regarded as humankind's greatest achievement.
He's been invited to the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto for the premiere of a documentary called "Lander, from Avro to Apollo." The 25-minute film is about the unsung contributions of engineer Owen Maynard to the Apollo 11 mission. Maynard was one of a group of top Avro engineers who had come to NASA after the cancellation of the infamous Arrow program in 1959.
Ross Maynard said his dad was so busy at that time, given the Cold War pressure of beating the Russians to the moon, that he and his sisters were in bed before he got home, and he was gone in the morning before they got up. He does vividly recall, however, one exchange with his father when he was in Grade 7 or 8.
"So he reached in this big, fat briefcase that he had, and he pulled out this model of the lunar module," Maynard told BlackburnNews.com in a phone interview from his Peterborough area home. "You could hold it in your hand, and he took the thing out of there, flung it up in the air holding it down, and then pretended to smash it onto the table and said 'that's it!... that's what we're going to go to the moon with!'"
Apollo 11 stamp (image courtesy of Canada Post)
In late June, Ross Maynard was asked to help launch Canada Post's commemorative Apollo 11 stamps. He said at the ceremony, former astronaut now Governor-General Julie Payette, suggested Canadian feet [from the development of the lunar module] were the first on the moon.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said he's pleased that Owen Maynard is now getting the recognition he deserves, and Sarnians should take pride in their city's connection to the space program.
"You look at our own Chris Hadfield who we're going to celebrate in a few weeks, and Mac Evans who was head of the Canadian Space Agency," said Bradley. "So think of three Canadians from Sarnia who have made a significant contribution over the years to the space program."
Owen Maynard was born in Sarnia in October of 1924 and died in Waterloo in July 2000.
Ross Maynard said his dad was "crazy" about Chris Hadfield and notes his father and mother were invited to the ceremony that renamed Sarnia's airport in honour of the former astronaut.
