In 1959, Mike Myers of Waveland, Miss., who later was employed at Stennis Space Center during the Apollo years, was an engineer at Redstone Arsenal in north Alabama. In March of that year, he was chosen to be part of a group engaged in a top-secret study of establishing a military outpost on the moon.
At the end of the three-month study, other officers at the Army facility were briefed on the project.
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“Do you want to bet?” Myers responded – and the two men did just that.
Their wager was the future value of an $18.75 United States Savings Bond.
In the early 1960s, Myers went on to work on the Saturn stage testing at Stennis. On the night of July 20, 1969, he gathered with others involved in the Apollo Program to watch astronaut Neil Armstrong become the first human to walk on the moon.
After that feat, Myers recalled the wager and called his former captain.
A short time later, he received a check in the mail. At the bottom was written, “Lost bet – man on the moon before 18 May ’79.” The amount was $41.10. Myers still has a copy of the check, which he regards as material evidence of the confidence he had in America’s ability to reach the moon.
Now retired, he recalls the events surrounding July 20, 1969, as the highlight of his career.
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