Biography | Freemasons In Space

Freemasons have always been in the forefront of the scientific community; from the founding of the British Royal Society to today’s NASA programme in the United States.
The following is a short and incomplete list ¹ of Brethren who have contributed to the exploration of outer space.



Administration
Kenneth S. Kleinknecht²		Manager, Apollo Program Command and Service Modules. Deputy Manager, Gemini Program Manager, Project Mercury.	Fairview Lodge No. 699	Fairview, Ohio
Clark C. McClelland		ScO, Space Shuttle Fleet 1958 – 1992	Lodge 301	Venus, Florida

James Edwin Webb	b. October 7, 1906	Administrator, NASA 1961-1968	University Lodge No. 408	Chapel Hill, North Carolina


Astronauts
Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr.³	b. January 20, 1930	Gemini XII, Apollo 11	Clear Lake Lodge No. 1417	Seabrook, Texas
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.	b. March 6, 1927	Mercury 9, “Faith 7”, Gemini V	Carbondale Lodge No. 82	Carbondale, Colorado
Donn F. Eisele	b. June 23, 1930	Apollo 7	Luthor B. Turner Lodge No. 732	Columbus Ohio
John H. Glenn, Jr. ⁴	b. July 18, 1921	Mercury 6, “Friendship 7”	Concord Lodge No. 688	New Concord, Ohio
Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom	April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967	Mercury 4 “Liberty Bell 7”, Gemini 3, Apollo 1	Mitchell Lodge No. 228	Mitchell, Indiana
James Irwin ⁴	1930-1991	Apollo 15
Edgar D. Mitchell	b. Sept. 17, 1930	Apollo 14	Artesia Lodge No. 28	Artesia, New Mexico
Walter M. Schirra, Jr.	b. March 12, 1923	Mercury 8 “Sigma 7”, Gemini VI, Apollo 7	Canaveral Lodge No. 339	Cocoa Beach, Florida
Thomas P. Stafford	b. Sept. 17, 1930	Gemini VII, Gemini IX-A, Apollo 10, Apollo 18	Western Star Lodge No. 138	Weatherford, Oklahoma
Paul J. Weitz	b. July 25, 1932	Skylab 2, Challenger (STS-6)	Lawrence Lodge No. 708	Erie, Pennsylvania


Scientists
Vannever Bush	1890-1974	computer pioneer and internet visionary	Richard C. MaclaurinLodge	Cambridge, Massachusetts

NOTES:-
1 . The New Age Magazine. Supreme Council 33° A.&A. Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction, Washington, D.C.: November 1969. pp. 14-30.
2 . Eldest son of Christian Frederick Klienknecht. Ibid. page 23.
3 . Astronauts were allowed to carry personal items. Aldrin carried an embroidered flag depicting the emblem of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction. See correspondence.
4 . Freemasons Who Made A Difference Jim Harrison. Gavel Society, Vancouver, Canada: 1992.

Neil Armstrong was not a freemason; his father, Stephen Koenig Armstrong, was an active freemason from 1931 until his death in 1990. (Grand Lodge F&AM Ohio records). Some masonic websites, this one included, failed to properly check their sources and for many years reported Neil Armstrong’s father as Neil Armstrong Sr. Some websites—mostly masoniphobic—have further reported him as a 33° or a “Grand Officer”, neither of which have been confirmed.
Flight information cited from Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide. Valerie Neal, Cathleen S. Lewis, Frank H. Winter, in Association with the National Air and Space Museum, The Smithsonion Institution, Washington, D.C., New York, 1995. Image detail from NASA photo of Aldrin, modified by Stanley Q. Woodvine in 1998.