“First Flight” Lunar Module

“First Flight” Lunar Module

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A half-scale replica of Apollo 11’s lunar landing module, nearly 13 feet tall and 12 feet wide, marks the site where the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, took off during his first airplane ride at the age of six.

This half-scale replica of Apollo 11’s lunar landing module, which is nearly 13 feet tall and 12 feet wide, marks the site where the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, took off during his first airplane ride at the age of six. The future astronaut developed an early interest in flying and on July 26, 1936, young Neil and his dad, embarked on that first airplane ride in a Ford Tri-Motor airplane -- a Tin Goose -- from Warren Airways located on Parkman Road. Thirty-three years later -- and almost to the day of that first airplane ride -- Neil Armstrong made history when he was the first man to step on the moon's surface. Near the entrance to the site is an Ohio historical marker honoring another US astronaut, Dr. Ronald Parise.

Dr. Parise was a payload specialist for the Columbia and Endeavor space shuttle missions in 1990 and 1995. He held planning and communications engineering support roles for human space flight projects including the Russian space station Mir, the International Space Station and the X-38, a vehicle intended to return astronauts to Earth from space.