That July 20, 1969 millions and millions of viewers around the world followed with particular attention the first descent of the human being on our natural satellite, the Moon. Many found it strange to take some steps – indeed jumping – that Neil Armstrong took as soon as he got off the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). There were those who thought they were signs of joy, others who found this way of behaving disrespectful… but only a few – the so-called “initiates to the Mysteries of August” – smiled serenely because they understood the message. A Mason brother greeted them as he soiled his boots with moon dust. In fact, walking like this was part of a ritual aspect that one learns when entering a lodge.
It can be said that most of the manned trips to the Moon had Freemasonry as protagonists. Not only them, but also many of those who worked to ensure that the goal was successfully completed.
So we have Jack Parsons, the creator of the fuel used for this space odyssey, who was a member of a lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis.
Fred Kleinknect, who was head of NASA during the Apollo program, had an active life in the fraternity, reaching the position of Sovereign Grand Inspector of the Southern Jurisdiction Council of the 33rd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Astronaut Leroy Gordon Cooper (1927/2004) made two space trips. One in the Mercury Atlas 9 capsule, May 15, 1963, and another in the Gemini 5 two-seat capsule; from August 21 to 29, 1965, together with astronaut Charles Conrad. On this flight Coeper carried with him the medal identifying him as an Officer of the 33rd Degree of Freemasonry and also carried the flag of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Six of the ten astronauts known to belong to the Masonic Order were in the Apollo project whose ultimate goal—as President John F. Kennedy had proposed—was to successfully land a human being on the Moon and back.
Neil Armstrong, the mission commander and Masonic brother, tried to pay – as we have already said – a discreet homage to the Order and its brothers by walking with the same ritual steps that apprentices use when entering a Masonic temple. All highlighted with that now historic and unforgettable phrase: “It’s one small step for man, one leap for Humanity”. Only members of the Order have taken note of this heartfelt homage.
The second Freemason to walk on the moon was Edwin Buzz Aldrin, a member of Montclair Lodge No. 144 in New Jersey and who was also a member of Clear Lake Lodge in Waco, Texas, a Knight Templar and a member of the Sanctuary.
In his memoirs, Aldrin explains that his wish was to take his father’s Masonic ring with him to the moon, but that he could not do so because he had misplaced it. Less known is that the astronaut was carrying with him another object which today is a reason for worship by members of the Masonic brotherhood. Hidden inside the space suit, Aldrin brought to the Moon a small flag of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. An eagle was embroidered in the center as well as the classic sign of the square and the compass, Masonic symbols par excellence. Aldrin, upon his return to Earth, placed all this at the disposal of the Sovereign Grand Commander. The flag hangs in the museum library at the Washington, DC Scottish Rite Temple located at 1733 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Later two other Freemasons walked on the moon. One of them was Edgar D. Mitchell, whom I had the opportunity to meet personally and have a long private conversation. I remember a special moment of our dialogue, when I asked him, what would an astronaut do if he met a being from a civilization from another world? With absolute poise and serenity, he replied, “Those of us who have traveled to the Moon have had special spiritual preparation, in case a scene like this occurs.” I knew right away what he meant.
Mitchell, a member of Apollo XIV and the sixth man to set foot on our natural satellite, joined the Artesia lodge, from the city of the same name, located in New Mexico.
James Irwin, a member of the Apollo XV mission, was also a member of Freemasonry, integrating the Tajón lodge of Colorado Springs.
Another pioneer in astronautics and a member of the Masonic Order was John Herschel Glenn (1921/2016), who on February 20, 1962 flew in Friendship 7, the spacecraft of the Mercury Atlas 6 mission, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth . the fifth person to travel in space. Much later he was also a member of Concorden Lodge, located in New Concord, Ohio. He was already part of it when he returned to space (1998) to command one of the flights of the shuttle Discovery. He thus became the oldest person to travel in space—he was 77 years old—and the only person to fly in both the Mercury program and a space shuttle. As if that weren’t enough, he was a senator of the Democratic Party.
As far as we know, the following were astronauts belonging to Freemasonry: Colonel Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. (USAF), Clear Lake Lodge No. 1417 of Texas and a member of the Scottish Rite Corps. Colonel Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr. (USAF), Carbondale Lodge No. 82, Colorado.
Lt. Col. Don F. Eisele (USAF), Luther B. Turner Lodge No. 732, Columbus, Ohio. Lt. Col. Virgil L. Grissom, Mitchell Lodge, Indiana.
CF Kleinknecht, Fairview Lodge No. 699 Fairview, Ohio. Edgar D. Mitchell, Artesian Lodge, Artesians, New Mexico. Captain Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Cane Lodge No. 339 Cocoa Beach, Florida. Colonel Thomas P. Stafford, Western Star Lodge No. 138, Weatherford, Oklahoma. Commander Paul J. Weitz, Lodge No. 708, Erie, Pennsylvania. James Edwin Webb, Oxford Lodge No. 122, Oxford, NC. Skylab 2 crew member Paul J. Weitz is part of Lawrence Lodge, of Eire, Pennsylvania.
Antonio Las Heras has a doctorate in Social Psychology. He is the author of the books “Belgrano y la Masonería” and “Ovnis, losdocumentos secretos de los astronautas”, both published by Grupo Argentinidad.
