RETIREES, KIDS MARK MOONWALK.

Byline: Michael Coit Staff Writer

Small rocket engines were Jerry Federer's main job in Canoga Park, and the heady years of the U.S.-Soviet space race pushed him to new heights of engineering.

Testing those same engines, as well as far larger ones, was John Baisley's expertise, and the control systems manager thrived in the dynamic environment of the Santa Susana Field Lab.

Both Rocketdyne retirees had a personal stake in the success of Apollo 11, the space flight that placed the first men on the moon July 20, 1969.

They still savor that moment, gathering with fellow retirees Thursday at the Boeing recreation center to recall their contributions to a mission that captured the public's imagination 30 years ago.

``All the way through Apollo until the moon landing, we worked 60 to 80 hours a week,'' recalled Baisley, 76, of West Hills. ``It was all new. It was fascinating. It was a sense of accomplishment in solving many problems.''

On that historic day, however, Baisley had to wait for the evening news to get a glimpse of Neil Armstrong and Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin walking on the moon. He was busy earlier in the day when the moonwalk took place; he was working on a proposal for the space shuttle main engine.

Federer was fortunate to catch a break and watch the moonwalk live on television. For him, the highlight of the eight-day mission was watching the lunar ascent module engine send the two astronauts back to the command module orbiting the moon.

``It was just amazing. It just popped right off the moon,'' Federer said, still pleased all went as planned.

``Everything was pretty much hit-and-miss. You weren't always sure if (an engine) was going to fire as it was supposed to or get the right performance,'' recalled Federer, 76, of Agoura Hills.

Dozens of retirees still living in the San Fernando Valley and neighboring areas came to the ice cream social hosted by The Boeing Co., which now owns Rocketdyne. They are among more than 300 who will receive mementos of Apollo 11.

Boeing is giving away commemorative posters and the tasty pastries known as Moon Pies, and is publishing replicas of the company newspaper published on that day.

A display of engines that powered Apollo 11 into space helped bring back memories Thursday.

The largest was the J-2 booster engine for the second and third stages of the Apollo/Saturn V vehicle. There also was the lunar ascent module engine and several SE engines used to maneuver capsules.

An unexpected treat was explaining how they worked to some of the children attending a Boeing summer day camp at the recreation center.

The engines amazed the children, who also learned about magnetism, gravity, force and thrust during presentations from current Boeing employees.

``It kind of looks like an engine, but I'm not sure,'' said 10-year-old Samantha Robinson of West Hills as she looked at the lunar ascent module engine. ``I think it's pretty interesting.''

Elizabeth England, 11, of West Hills appreciated the retirees' firsthand knowledge. ``It's amazing. They're teaching us what science is for.''

There's something about space flight that always seems to fascinate younger generations, even children weaned on ``Star Wars'' and video games whose parents watched that grainy black and white television image of the first man on the moon, Baisley said.

``I think what catches their interest is not the gadget as a gadget, but what we do with it,'' Baisley said.

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Photo: Samantha Robinson, 10, makes a tornado in a bottle at the Boe ing kids camp.