Press kits prepared by the public relations staff at the major contractors for the Apollo 11 mission provided valuable additional information not found in NASA issued news releases. Reporters and editors from media outlets including television and newspapers had access to such documents from dozens of manufacturers while working on stories about the first lunar landing.
These press kits are beautifully prepared, with stunning artwork and fascinating period photographs.
With most of my time being spent as a marketing speaker, it has taken me fifteen years of collecting to amass what I believe to be the most complete collection of Apollo 11 press kits in the world. I'm always on the hunt for more, so please contact me if you have any.
Now, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, I've digitized my collection to make it available to scholars, marketers, Apollo buffs, and fans of graphic design.
Stouffer’s, IBM, and North American Rockwell are among the contractors that worked with NASA on earthbound aspects of Apollo 11 mission such as the laboratory for analyzing the lunar dust returned to earth.
Bendix, Boeing & Rocketdyne worked with NASA to prepare for launch by developing powerful rocket boosters and testing the Apollo spacecraft: command module, service module, and the lunar module.
Grumman, Ryan, and Harris Electronics teamed up with hundreds of other contractors to construct the world’s first spacecraft to the carry humans to the surface of the Moon.
ILC Industries and others readied the astronauts by building a gauge that would measure the moon’s pressure and temperature, and a spacesuit that could survive the harsh lunar environment.
General Precision Systems and others worked to provide such tools as a Mission Simulator which allowed astronauts to prepare for challenges such as landing safely on the lunar surface.
Western Union and Westinghouse were among the contractors that worked with NASA to enable Apollo missions to broadcast video in real-time from space; a remarkable feat in the 1960s.
We would like to give special thanks to all those Americans who built the spacecraft; who did the construction, design, the tests, and put their hearts and all of their abilities into that craft. To those people tonight, we give a special thank you.
I have a message in a time bottle for the candidate who wins the 2016 election for the U.S. presidency. There’s opportunity to make a bold statement on the occasion of the July 2019 50th anniversary of the first humans to land on the moon: I believe this nation should commit itself, within two decades, to commencing American permanence on the planet Mars.
I'm a marketing strategist, entrepreneur, advisor to emerging companies, and a professional marketing speaker on topics including marketing, fandom, and social media.
I'm available for keynote presentations, corporate seminars, and webinar appearances.