On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Lunar Module Eagle on the surface of the moon and radioed to Earth: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
What does that have to do with Ford Motor Co.? Everything. You see, much of the equipment used in the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, including the voice transmission back to Houston, came from Ford. It built the Mission Control Center in Houston, Ted Ryan, Ford’s archives and Heritage Brand manager, told the Detroit Free Press.
In 1961, Ford wanted to stretch beyond making cars so it bought electronics manufacturer Philco and transferred Ford’s Aeronutronic Division to the new entity called Philco-Ford, Ryan said. Two years later, Philco-Ford competed against IBM, RCA, Lockheed, Hughes Aircraft and AT&T for the bid to build the Mission Control Center. Philco-Ford was considered an underdog, yet it won the job as prime contractor…