Before The Moon is a feature-length documentary that reveals the untold story of how a quiet
corner of Pennsylvania helped launch America into the space age. Long before rockets soared and
astronauts walked on the Moon, the groundwork for spaceflight was being forged in Warminster, PA.
Here, the U.S. Navy’s research hub - known as the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) - became home
to
the world’s largest and most powerful human centrifuge, capable of generating over 40 Gs of force.
This machine wasn’t built for comfort - it was built for survival.
Astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and
John Glenn are remembered for their triumphs in space. But it was the brutal spins inside the
world’s largest and most powerful human centrifuge that first pushed their bodies and their
courage to the edge. Warminster was the proving ground, where survival wasn’t simulated -it was
earned.
Beyond training, NADC and its regional partners quietly shaped the future of NASA missions. Engineers
and researchers in Bucks County developed critical life-support systems, tested pressure suits, and
advanced avionics and guidance technologies that would help carry astronauts to the Moon - and bring
them back alive. Before Houston. Before Cape Canaveral. There was Johnsville.
Set against this high-tech military-industrial backdrop, the film also traces the region’s deeper
legacy of invention—from steamboat pioneer John Fitch, whose 1787 Delaware River trial predated
Robert Fulton, to the machinists and engineers who built the first weather satellite and crafted the
carbon filter cartridges that saved the Apollo 13 crew. Through rare NASA footage, firsthand
accounts from astronauts, vivid reenactments, and
never-before-seen interviews with those who lived it, Before The Moon uncovers a forgotten
legacy of American ingenuity - proving that the path to the stars may have begun in the fields of
Pennsylvania.
The Story
Warminster Takes Flight
James Work’s Brewster Aeronautical plant aimed to build top-tier military
aircraft, but after its wartime collapse, the U.S. Navy took over. The site became the Naval Air
Development Center (NADC), transforming Warminster into a Cold War hub of flight safety,
aerospace innovation, and astronaut training.
The Aerospace Engine of Bucks County
Companies
produced aircraft, satellites, and life-saving space components used in missions from Echo 1 to
Apollo 13. These quiet innovators helped build the very tools that lifted America into the
skies - and into history.
The Moon Launch Machine
Acceleration training to the brink of blackout on the world's most powerful
centrifuge was a right of passage for early U.S. astronauts, forging the minds and bodies of
those who would ultimately emerge victors of the Space Race to the moon.
Aviation Innovation in Bucks County
Pennsylvania once stood at the forefront of American aerospace manufacturing. Companies like
Keystone
Aircraft Corporation helped lay the foundation for modern aviation. Keystone briefly employed a
young James McDonnell, who would go on to found McDonnell Aircraft and design both the F-4 Phantom
and Mercury/Gemini spacecraft. Fleetwings (later Kaiser-Fleetwings) operated in Bristol,
producing stainless steel aircraft and, in 1960, the launch canister for Echo 1, the satellite that
enabled the first satellite voice transmission - President Eisenhower's.
During World War II and into the Space Race, Lavelle Aircraft Corporation became a critical
subcontractor for NASA. They built key components for the TIROS weather satellites, Telstar,
Ranger
7, and even parts of the Apollo Lunar Module and life support systems used during the dramatic
Apollo 13 mission. Meanwhile, Rohm and Haas, another Bucks County-based company, manufactured
Plexiglas which was used in military aircraft during World War II and found many other
industrial
and consumer applications.These industrial pioneers turned the Philadelphia suburbs into a
hidden
engine of American aerospace ingenuity.
The Johnsville Centrifuge
Where the Limits of Human Flight Were Tested
Hidden in the heart of Warminster, Pennsylvania stood a machine so advanced it could simulate the
crushing force of a rocket launch as a "dynamic flight simulator" and proved integral for training
of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts to survive the rigorous journey to space. Funded by the
Navy, the Johnsville Centrifuge, the largest and most powerful human centrifuge in the world,
provided critical
acceleration training for America's leap into the cosmos.
At 180 tons, with a 50-foot arm capable of reaching 175 mph in just seconds, this marvel of
engineering taught pioneers like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and John Glenn how to endure the
rigors of liftoff and re-entry. It could deliver up to 40 Gs of acceleration force - more than
enough
to knock a person unconscious or worse. Instead, it forged them into astronauts.
Today, The Johnsville Centrifuge still stands as a monument to human endurance and ingenuity. Before
we walked on the Moon - we trained in Warminster.
The Technology That Powered Missions
While astronauts trained for the physical demands of spaceflight in Warminster, nearby companies
engineered the systems that made space travel possible. In Lansdale, Philco-Ford produced the
integrated circuits for the Apollo Guidance Computer—one of the earliest examples of modern
computing in space. Just across the river in Camden, RCA pioneered satellite communications and
telemetry hardware used by NASA throughout the Gemini and Apollo programs. These advances in
electronics and control systems helped turn complex mission planning into achievable flight
trajectories, docking procedures, and lunar landings.
Beyond spacecraft, the region also played a vital role in the development of Cold War missile and
propulsion systems. The Naval Air Material Unit (NAMU) in Northeast Philadelphia contributed to
guided missile research, while General Electric's Missile and Space Division, which began in
Philadelphia and later moved to King of Prussia, worked on reentry vehicles, propulsion, and
space launch systems. These Cold War-era technologies laid the groundwork for the digital
precision that would come to define the Space Shuttle era—and they all trace back to labs and
assembly lines just a short drive from Warminster.
And in a moment of crisis that defined NASA ingenuity, a Bucks County innovation helped save the
crew of Apollo 13. When an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft, engineers in Houston
worked with astronauts to jury-rig a life-saving air filter from parts aboard the ship. At the
heart of that solution was a canister frame manufactured in Newtown by Lavelle Aircraft
Corporation. Originally built to scrub carbon dioxide in the lunar module, Lavelle’s component
became a critical part of the emergency workaround—allowing the crew to breathe safely until
splashdown. That a local shop floor contributed to one of spaceflight’s most heroic rescues
reminds us: sometimes, the smallest parts make the biggest difference.
Help Launch the Greater Philadelphia Aerospace Hall of Fame
The Greater Philadelphia Aerospace Hall of Fame will celebrate the region's remarkable contributions
to space and aviation history—from test pilots and engineers to astronauts and aerospace innovators.
Your support helps:
Honor pioneering individuals, corporations, and organizations
Establish a permanent display in Warminster, PA
Host a public enshrinement banquet starting in 2026
Create a digital Hall of Fame and interactive Aerospace Heritage Trail
Inspire the next generation through stories and educational outreach
Join us in building a legacy worthy of the region that trained Mercury astronauts, and helped launch
America into space. Let's make history visible—and unforgettable.
The historic Johnsville Centrifuge, where America's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo
astronauts trained for space.
The Apollo 11 crew trained for the Moon in Warminster, PA.The Centrifuge Control Room where the operation and health of the centrifuge was
monitored and controlled.Brewster Aviation at NADC, launching Warminster's legacy of aerospace excellence.
Donations to support the production of the film are handled through the
King's Highway
Foundation,
a nonprofit dedicated to preserving American History. Your contribution ensures this story is
not only told—but remembered.
