Simple (AC) spark triggered rocket’s roar

Before mankind took that one giant leap onto the Moon 30 years ago, AC Spark Plug helped get the rocket off the ground.

AC in Flint made the igniters for the engines in the rockets NASA used in the Apollo 11 mission. Igniters perform the same function that spark plugs do in an automobile’s engine, but are much more sophisticated.

AC made the igniters for the second and third stages that lifted the Saturn V rocket into orbit, and each engine required four igniters.

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon.

AP File Photo

Apollo 11 blasts off on July 16, 1969, with the aid of AC Spark Plug’s igniters, made in Flint.

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