WATCH: Moon Buggy, NOT invented by Filipino, in Seattle’s Museum of Flight

SEATTLE, USA —The original Moon Buggy, developed and tested in Seattle, sits across thousands of artifacts and vehicles in Seattle’s Museum of Flight, the world’s biggest independent air and space museum.

For years, Filipinos believed in the hoax that Filipino mechanical engineer Eduardo San Juan, nicknamed “The Space Junkman,” invented the Lunar Rover or Moon Buggy.

Official records show the Lunar Roving Vehicle was actually invented by Boeing as a four-wheel, battery-powered rover used on the moon by astronauts in the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions from 1971 to 1972. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), German-born American rocket scientist Georg von Tiesenhausen conceived the lunar rover as early as 1959.

Since Seattle is the birthplace and headquarters of Boeing, many of the aerospace manufacturer’s inventions are displayed in the museum. This includes a model of the first ever airplane the Philippines’ flag carrier airlines, Philippine Airlines (PAL), used on its maiden flight – from Manila to Baguio – on March 15, 1941, carrying five passengers.

Today, the aircraft model used for PAL’s very first flight is still being used as a rescue airplane.

The visit to Seattle and the Museum of Flight coincided with PAL’s launch of its new Manila to Seattle and vice versa route, which is also serviced by Boeing 777 or Triple Seven airplanes that were delivered straight to Manila from Seattle.

Besides the Moon Buggy and a model of PAL’s first airplane, also worth seeing in the museum are:

Located in a 23-acre space composed of five buildings, the Museum of Flight offers “an encyclopedic look at aviation and space history” with its displays that encompass “everything from the first fighter aircraft in 1914 to a mock-up of the space shuttle that NASA used, to the current Boeing 787 Dreamliner,” said the museum’s Senior Public Relations and Promotions Manager Ted Huetter.

The museum attracts over 600,000 visitors a year, mostly school tour groups, said Huetter, making it one of Seattle’s top tourist attractions. Hundreds of retirees from the aviation industry also volunteer at the museum as tour guides.

“It's a popular spot for families