Celebrate 40th Anniversary of Moon Landing

Posted by: Vicki Powers on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Microsoft Word - Document4 America will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20, 2009, when astronaut Neil Armstrong uttered the first words from the moon — “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Houston is the proud home of the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, which means Houston has planned many events to celebrate this special anniversary.

Spacefest at Discovery Green — Don’t miss historic Spacefest beginning July 17 through July 20 at Discovery Green downtown. Lots of activities planned throughout the weekend — and they are all FREE!

July 17 — Discovery Dome exhibit honoring the Apollo astronauts and Wish Wall interactive exhibit (6 – 8:30 p.m.), “Shadow of the Moon” film at 8:30 p.m., live music by Max Q (6 – 9 p.m.)
July 18 — Discovery Dome exhibit honoring the Apollo astronauts (10 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.), Wish Wall (7 – 9 p.m.), “Apollo 13″ film at 8:30 p.m.
July 19 — Discovery Dome exhibit honoring the Apollo astronauts and Wish Wall (12 – 4 p.m.)
July 20 — “Driven to Explore,” NASA’s mobile exhibit (4 – 9 p.m.), Discovery Dome exhibit honoring the Apollo astronauts and Wish Wall interactive exhibit (4 – 9 p.m.), and original footage of worldwide news coverage of the moon landing and JFK’s speech delivered right at Rice University.

NASA, Rice University, and Houston Museum of Natural Science have partnered to offer these fantastic events at Discovery Green.

Fly Me to the Moon — University of Houston/Clear Lake hosts a community celebration, Fly Me to the Moon, Saturday, July 18, 6 p.m., to celebrate the moon landing anniversary. Enjoy a 1969-style picnic, hear special guest speakers, gaze at the stars through telescopes, and watch a clip of the historic landing on an inflatable screen. This free event will be held at UH/Clear Lake’s Alumni Plaza, 2700 Bay Area Blvd.

Houston Astros — The Houston Astros will wear caps featuring the Apollo 11 mission patch for their game, July 20. The first 10,000 lucky fans will receive replica caps with the same logo!

Special exhibits at The Health Museum (through September 2, 2009) and The Museum of Fine Arts (beginning September 27, 2009) feature space-related exhibits in honor of the 40th anniversary.