You could say Milton Silveira always had his head in the clouds. The Mattapoisett native was an Army pilot, flew experimental helicopters and was instrumental in the Apollo 11 moon landing.

As a student at Center School, Alex Craig got to know the influential scientist while doing a third grade project on him. When Silveira passed away last year at the age of 84, Alex decided he needed to do something to honor Silveira’s achievements.

The NASA chief engineer didn’t always make a smooth landing though.

“He got his pilot’s license in 1945 before he got his driver’s license. He subsequently crashed into a field where the Mattapoisett post office now is,” said his daughter, Carolyn Krumrey.

Still, he knew big things were going to happen in space. Standing in his yard as a kid, he’d told his mother, “‘One day we’re going to put a man on the moon’ and he was instrumental in making that happen for our country,” Krumrey said.

Krumrey, Silveira’s son, Lee, and other family, friends and town leaders gathered at Ned’s Point on Friday to honor the visionary Silveira at a memorial orchestrated by Alex.

Alex, now 11, had formed a friendship with Silveira in the process of his research and had several long conversations with the retired aerospace engineer. They sent emails back and forth, and Silveira sent Alex a signed poster of a rocket and two coins made with metal that had been in space.

After Silveira died, Krumrey discovered the correspondence between the two.

“I thought, ‘Wow. This is cool,’” said Krumrey. “I saw a picture of Alex in his little white shirt and black skinny tie, which is what all the NASA engineers wore. I’ve got to contact this young man just to hold that connection.”

Around the same time, Alex had come up with a plan to honor Silveira through a memorial in town.

“Milton Silveira deserves the thanks for all that he did for us,” said Alex.

Silveira’s first foray into the field of space was in 1951 with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor to NASA. He later worked on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions and served as NASA’s chief engineer from 1983 to 1986.

Along the way, Silveira developed a number of inventions that have been used here on earth. During his speech on Friday, Alex listed a Teflon coated fiberglass used for roofing and a lightweight breathing system for firefighters among the contributions Silveira made to society.

Such accomplishments convinced Alex he needed to do something that would bring Silveira to the spotlight in his hometown. Alex spoke with Selectmen last winter and they OK’ed the memorial that overlooks the Ned’s Point Lighthouse.

He then raised $3,000, including donations from the Silveira family and an in-kind donation from the town, to purchase a large stone with a plaque and a bench.

The memorial was unveiled on Friday morning.

“Today as we honor Dr. Milton Antone Silveira, we also can feel great that we’ve got amongst us this young man Alex. I can tell you right now, he’s going to be doing great things also,” said Town Administrator Mike Gagne.

Selectman Tyler Macallister said he was impressed with Alex’s initative.

“He made his presentation to the board with a very impressive description of what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it. Everything you see here today was him,” said Macallister, who helped Alex choose the memorial’s location.

Krumrey said the spot was perfect.

“My dad loved this lighthouse,” she said. “He used to fish down here when he was a kid with his mom. I’m speechless.”

Krumrey and Lee, who both work for NASA, expressed their thanks to Alex and the town for honoring their father, saying he wasn’t one to talk about his accomplishments.

“He was not the kind of person who would go around bragging about what he did. He just did it and let his actions speak,” said Lee.

The two siblings said they didn’t realize how much her father had done until they spoke with people who knew him.

“I realize now how important it is for all of us to really understand what our parents are doing and what they’ve done for our country and to honor them,” said Krumrey.