Obituaries
ICYMI: LI Man Who Helped Moon Landings Dies At 89
The man, who grew up in Queens, was the Space Craft Manager for the project that put the third and fourth humans on the moon.
FLORAL PARK, NY — James Gillis, a man who helped put U.S. astronauts on the moon, died in February and was buried at Calverton National Cemetery in Floral Park. He was 89.
Gillis was the Space Craft Manager for Lunar Module 6 and Apollo 12, according to this obituary, which put the third and fourth astronauts on the moon. He was a grandfather of six and a great-grandfather of one.
Gillis, who grew up in the Queensbridge Houses public housing project in Long Island City, died Feb. 9 from complications after a fall in which he broke his hip, Newsday reported.
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"We didn't look on it as a big challenge," Gillis said of the lunar module project, the Newsday report says. He added "I don't think most of us knew what the challenge was going to be. I think it took us a while to get caught up in the feeling. I don't think we realized where the hell we were going."
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