Apollo 11 50th Anniversary : Santa Barbara engineer reflects on daring mission

Ronald Friestad remembers that day 50 years ago when the Apollo 11 mission put the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969.

“It’s amazing I’m here 50 years later to see it,” he said while looking at photos from his long career working on the Apollo program.

Friestad, of Santa Barbara, worked for General Motors as the lead engineer on guidance and navigation on the lunar module for Apollo 11.

“To see the thing take off and go was amazing because of all the work we did,” he said.

Friestad continued to work on the Apollo Program through Apollo 17 and during the crisis of Apollo 13, he worked 36 straight hours to help bring the crew back.