Over the moon
40TH ANNIVERSARY | In Chicago and across the nation, special events celebrate a giant step for mankind
On July 20, 1969, millions of people watched man set foot on the moon for the first time. This defining moment in space exploration is about to turn 40 years old. And there's no shortage of ways to celebrate, from having a piece of lunar landing cake at Chicago's Adler Planetarium to camping under a Saturn V rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida:
PHOTO GALLERY
Space Adventures
Drop by July 20 for a free look at the moon, Saturn, Jupiter and other heavenly sights through special telescopes that will be set up outside the planetarium. Inside, your paid admission ticket gets a few extras, like the chance to touch a moon rock and meet an astronomer in the space visualization lab.
Take a virtual cruise around the moon with Adler's Interactive Moon Wall. "It's a new addition to our Shoot for the Moon exhibit," Adler spokeswoman Sarah Beck said. "We take real pictures from the moon and visitors can fly around the surface ... using a joystick." Rare footage from the Apollo 11 mission has been added to the permanent exhibit during the month of July, when museum visitors walk away with a free Apollo 11 poster -- a different one is available each week.
Historian Craig Nelson will recount the story of our mission to the moon from 2-3 p.m. July 17 in the Milky Way Gallery. And on July 20, the planetarium will be passing out pieces of lunar landing cake at 3:17 p.m., the time Apollo 11 touched down on the moon.
Former astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell will talk about their days as space pioneers at 7 p.m. July 22 at Northwestern University's Thorne Auditorium in Chicago (advance registration required).
Call (312) 922-STAR, or visit adlerplanetarium.org.
What does it feel like to blast off toward the moon? Find out at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, an Alabama town where the saying goes, "You can't throw a rock without hitting a rocket scientist." (Home to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville reportedly has the nation's highest population of engineers per capita.)
Give gravity a spin in the center's G-Force Accelerator, step inside the Apollo Cockpit Trainer or hang on for a white-knuckle ride on the Space Shot, where you rocket 140 vertical feet in 2½ seconds and feel 4 G's of force upon launch.
"It's not for the faint of heart," said center spokesman Al Whitaker, who should know: Hours after the only time he rode the Space Shot, he had a heart attack. "That was from years of eating deep-fried Southern food -- not the ride."
In honor of the upcoming 40th anniversary, the center commissioned a coffee table book featuring the art of one of NASA's first graphic artists, Paul Calle.
"Paul was the only person given total access to the Apollo 11 astronauts in the days leading up to the launch," Whitaker said. "He was there in the White Room that morning for their breakfast, doing all these sketches."
Calle will be signing copies of his Celebrating Apollo 11 on July 20.
Visitors can take a stroll on a replica of the lunar landscape and check out one of the center's newest additions: the trailer used to quarantine Apollo 12 astronauts for two weeks after their lunar mission "in case they had some funky moon virus," Whitaker said. This Airstream-like trailer eventually ended up as lodging for college students at a catfish research facility.
"We literally found this thing in a field behind a deserted fish hatchery in southern Alabama," Whitaker said. "It's almost like a national treasure."
(800) 63-SPACE, spacecamp.com.
At the space museum in Houston, home to Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, visitors can touch rocks brought back from the moon and sit in the actual gallery where those famous words -- "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed" -- were first heard after Apollo 11's touchdown.
For die-hard space fans, $85 gets you a behind-the-scenes Level Nine Tour, where you can view NASA's new and old Mission Control centers, see where astronauts train, check out the space environment simulation lab and eat lunch in the cafeteria used by real astronauts. The nearly five-hour tour is limited to a dozen people daily, Monday-Friday, and you must be at least 14 years old to participate. Call (281) 283-4755.
Other Houston-based events include anniversary activities at the downtown Discovery Green park July 17-20 and a moon-centered exhibit from Sept. 27-Jan. 10 at the Museum of Fine Arts. On Jan. 21-24, the Houston Symphony will play while images from the Mars rovers and Hubble Space Telescope are broadcast on a giant screen over the stage.
Visithoustontexas.com/ moonlanding.
A bunch of free events are planned at this Smithsonian museum in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
On July 16, it's "Countdown to the Moon!" family day, when visitors of all ages get to mix and mingle with scientists researching the moon and geologists working on potential landing sites for human and robotic exploration. This day also marks the opening of the largest exhibition of paintings by artist and Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean -- a chance to see a world 238,000 miles away through the eyes of the only artist who ever walked on the moon. Bean will be signing copies of his new book from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bean is back on the afternoon of July 19, when he'll be joined by fellow authors and astronauts Aldrin and Michael Collins.
The Apollo 11 crew and Mission Control creator Chris Kraft are the speakers at 8 p.m. July 19 for the annual John H. Glenn lecture in space history. And at noon every Wednesday this month, curators will discuss a topic related to the Apollo 11 mission.
The museum's impressive collection is worth a visit any time of year to see gems like the Apollo 11 command module, Columbia, that carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the moon and back.
(202) 633-1000, nasm.si.edu.
Less than an hour east of Orlando, this launching point for all Apollo missions plans to celebrate with a public ceremony at 11 a.m. July 16, when Aldrin and fellow Apollo astronauts will share their stories under a 363-foot-long Saturn V rocket -- the kind used to catapult astronauts to the moon.
July 16 also marks the opening of the new Apollo Treasures Gallery exhibit at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The exhibit showcases rarely seen artifacts from the Apollo moon missions, such as Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard's space suit, tools used to excavate the lunar surface and instructions on how to deploy the American flag on the moon.
On July 20, the public can dig into a massive chocolate and marshmallow moon pie. That night, the Camp Kennedy Space Center hosts an overnight adventure for campers participating the week of July 20-24. Campers will sleep under an authentic Saturn V rocket, relive the events that happened 40 years ago with a special show in the Lunar Theater and do some hands-on activities with a veteran Apollo astronaut. (Regular Camp Kennedy Space Center tuition costs $295 a week. Designed for kids ages 8-14, camp sessions run through Aug. 14 and are based at the Astronaut Hall of Fame near the center's visitor complex. Call 321-449-4400.)
Later in the year, more than 30 astronauts and space icons will take part in the Astronaut Autograph and Memorabilia Show at the Kennedy Space Center, Nov. 7-8. Six of the nine living moonwalkers are among the attendees. Ticket packages range from $100 to $1,000 and are available at astronautscholarship.org or by calling (321) 455-7014.
Call (321) 867-5000, or visit kennedyspacecenter.com.