Leifer Recalls Apollo Role

When retired civil engineer Wallace Leifer was invited to the 40th observance of the Apollo 11 lunar mission at the Griffith Park Observatory in mid-July for his design of the landing gear for the Lunar Excursion Module, he was expecting a nostalgic reception from those who remembered the momentous event. ‘I was surprised that the enthusiasm was among the kids, 10-year-olds, who were fascinated by the whole thing. When I showed them my workbook that contained the design drawings, specifications, and photos, they said, ‘They [Grumman] let you keep that?’   Leifer arrived at Grumman in 1966, a 25-year-old man working in the design department, which at that time employed some 400 at the Long Island plant. For three years, he focused his work on the lunar module or LM, designing small but important elements such as the pulley system that lowered and raised the basket the astronauts used to collect moon rocks, and a crash bar attached to the triangular window to protect the astronauts from bumping their heads against the window upon landing.   Before Apollo 11, with LM 5 aboard, could be launched, two preliminary missions’the first manned flights of the LM’provided tests under space conditions as opposed to ground simulations, of the performance of the rendezvous radar, which guided the LM back to the command and service modules, its communications, life-support systems and separating and docking techniques for the two space vehicles.   Looking back to what was, in 1969, state-of-the-art interspace technology, Leifer, 65, is incredulous as how primitive it seems. Not only were all his calculations arrived at by slide rule, accompanied by beautifully rendered drawings, the lunar module was shaped more like a bucket than a rocket and was sheathed in heat-resistant gold Mylar that resembled an unwrapped Christmas present.   Leifer’s daughter, Lorin, has a special connection to the moonwalk. For that project, her dad hid a photograph of her aboard so her image would appear on the moon.   Then the realities of the aerospace industry, including the termination of the moon-exploring Apollo program and the loss of Navy contracts, forced Grumman to cut 30,000 jobs.   Leifer says that he was prepared to move when he got his pink slip. ‘I got a job at New York Telephone in the building design department,’ he says. He began a migration, first from New York to Atlanta in the early 1970s, working for AT&T, and eventually to California in 1986 to work for GTE, and the Southern California Gas Company. He and his wife Francesca Muller have lived in Pacific Palisades for 16 years. Retirement meant Leifer would devote his leisure to real estate and painting.   Leifer has always enjoyed drawing and painting. ‘My dad painted and my uncle was head of the Delahanty School of Drafting in New York City,’ he says.   Now, Palisadians can view his paintings of the Italian Riviera, local beaches and Parisian life at Jessica Miller at 857 Via de la Paz. Miller, whose eclectic shop boasts objets d’art and other assorted treasures, has dubbed Leifer artist-in-residence.   ’I became acquainted with Jessica through my wife, a very good customer,’ Leifer says, laughing. ‘I have even figured out what to do with the candelabra she bought. I light it and watch ‘The Tudors’ on HBO.’