Don R Shields
05-25-1933 – 11-25-2018 | Novato, CA.
PROGRAMS:
COMPANIES:
LOCATIONS:
Bethpage, NY
POSITIONS:
Consulting Pilot
COMMENTS:
Don was the consulting pilot on the LEM for Apollo 11. He trained Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on it’s use. They started out on LEM 2. Don was the ONLY person to operate LEM 2. It now stands in the Smithsonian. It’s “His LEM”! LEM 5 was, of course, the one assigned to Apollo 11.
More recently, Don was THE base of The Space Station Museum’s volunteer corps. A walking encyclopedia of info about the space program. Talking with him was like peeling an onion… each time new details would emerge. He was very humble and underplayed his pivotal roles. He was an Air Force pilot who flew high altitude atomic cloud sampling missions. He always talked about how much he loved his Canberra. Then after his time serving in the Air Force he went to work on the LEM at Grumman. If you’ve ever heard about Charles Lindbergh visiting the Grumman facility during the initial development of the LEM, Don was the one who gave him the tour. He was responsible for handing out the Silver Snoopy awards at NASA. He later went to work for Martin-Marietta on Skylab. He always had great stories to share.
There is nothing left undone or unaccomplished in his life. He always said he stumbled into his career. He’d say it was “a fluke”. He answered an ad for “some Apollo thing” and thought he’d give it a try. Well… did he ever! He even had his “15 minutes of fame” being interviewed during the live Walter Cronkite broadcast of Apollo 11’s landing coverage. Also as part of his legacy, in the weeks before he passed, he was able to give an interview and personal data to a NASA project concerning radiation affects on high altitude pilots and astronauts. He was very proud of that work.
Don inside the LEM at Grumman during the Apollo 11 mission.
Don at his volunteer job at The Space Station Museum in Novato, CA.
Go to this link to hear a more recent interview with Don about his experience in the space program….