Two Michigan Astronauts Reflect on 40th Anniversary of Apollo

David Leestma (left) and Donald McMonagle (right), courtesy of NASA

David Leestma and Donald McMonagle are native Michiganians who have first-hand experience with NASA missions over recent decades. This week, in a Detroit News interview they reflected on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo landing.

David Leestma was in the United States Naval Academy taking summer aeronautical engineering classes when the Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon. He was impressed, awed even.

But at the time he had no idea that just a little more than a decade later, he too, would travel into space.

“I was really excited about the program in general and the fact that we were trying to do something so spectacular,” said Leestma, 60, of Muskegon. “At that time in my career, I had no idea I would ever become an astronaut. It was something beyond what I thought I would have the opportunity to do.”

He was more concerned with his studies — concerns that paid off two years later when he graduated first in his class. But 40 years ago today, he was glued to a television set in Annapolis, Md.

His advice for present and future would-be astronauts?

“The opportunities are there even if you don’t realize it,” he said. “Whatever it is you’re doing — do it the best of your abilities because you never know where it might take you.”

For Donald McMonagle, another Michiganian who would become an astronaut, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing is bittersweet. He was between his junior and senior year in high school at the time. He was attending the Coast Guard Academy for a summer program and watched the moon landing with other midshipmen.

“I was fascinated by it,” the 57-year-old Flint native said. “It brings back a lot of nostalgia. But I have mixed emotions. I’m disappointed that we haven’t had the national role with a more ambitious program that would take us back to the moon.”

McMonagle logged more than 605 hours in space. He flew as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery in April 1991 and is a highly decorated pilot.

And he hopes the space program not only continues, but expands. He’d like to see people living and working on the moon — preparing for the next step of visiting other planets.

“I have the yearning for the national world to continue this adventure — to stimulate the young minds of the future,” McMonagle said.

Related Links:

NASA Bio: David Leestma
NASA Bio: Donald McMonagle